


Falling for You

by Mischel



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angel Merlin, Angel Powers, Angel Will, Angel Wings, Episode: s01e04 The Poisoned Chalice, Falling In Love, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flying, Heaven, Hunting trip, Invisibility, M/M, Morgana helps, Season/Series 01, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-12-14 05:30:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11776482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mischel/pseuds/Mischel
Summary: Merthur AU (angel!Merlin and human!Arthur). Merlin is a young angel and doesn't understand many things. When he discovers a pond in heaven through which he can see Earth though, everything changes. For the first time, he sees a human - Arthur Pendragon. And from that moment he knows that he wants to protect him. When Arthur is in danger, Merlin accidentally ends up on Earth while trying to help him. Now he must stay in Camelot and befriend Arthur until other angels find him and bring him home. Their growing love is forbidden though. What can Merlin do now? Leave and never talk to Arthur again or stay and die?





	1. It's Not Stalking Okay

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I wrote something for Merlin fandom. I wanted this to be a oneshot, but well... turns out now it's got about seven chapters. It's my first Merthur AU, where Merlin is an angel and Arthur is human. Their love is forbidden, but they find a way to stay together of course. This fanfic started thanks to a Merthur AU fest on Instagram started by [@all_about_merthur](https://www.instagram.com/all_about_merthur/) (*cough* in FEBRUARY *cough*) and I know it's really late now, but I finished this yesterday and I'm very excited to finally post it here. I hope you'll enjoy it! :D [#allaboutmerthuraufest](https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/allaboutmerthuraufest/)
> 
> Updates should be weekly, which means Friday (or Saturday once school starts, it's my senior year so I probably won't have much time).
> 
> The story is set in season 1 during 1x04 The Poisoned Chalice.
> 
> Oh and Merlin speaks Latin a bit (I have like zero experience with that language so I used an online translator... hope it still sounds nice). The translation will be at the end of the chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin.

 

Merlin loved the Garden of Eden. The enormous Garden in heaven - his home. He loved every tree, every leaf and every blade of grass beneath his feet. And he loved to breathe in the sweet air as he walked through it, watching the butterflies.

But there was always something missing. A tiny thing, always present at the back of his mind, never reachable.

Merlin didn't know what that thing was.

But as he reached the edge of the Garden and looked down over it, seeing the far fields as squares of green and yellow and brown, he wished for one thing. That he could go down there and see it for himself, see the forests and animals, breathe the air that humans breathe. It was forbidden though. No angel but the archangels went down on the Earth. They never interfered.

And Merlin? Oh, Merlin was a very young angel. So young that he didn't even have his own human to protect. His cheeks turned pink as he was thinking about it and his smile disappeared. He longed to have a human to look after. He wanted to know what it felt like to be the big angel on somebody else's shoulders, to be entangled in the life of one human being and be allowed to watch them and watch over them.

He sighed and turned back to the Garden, walking to the middle of it. He looked around at the flowers in bloom and he felt content again. Content with only one thing missing, the thing he couldn't quite put his finger on.

And when he reached the pond in the middle of the beautiful mess of all kinds of trees and bushes, he knelt down and let his fingers brush the water's surface. It felt a little cold. Pure.

It was the only thing in heaven that allowed angels to look down on the Earth as if through a huge magnifying glass. Every angel was connected to their humans mentally (even though the humans didn't usually know that) and they had their own ways to see them (ways that Merlin wasn't allowed to understand quite yet because of his age), but this pond? It was the only thing allowing him to see the trees down on the Earth.

And so he put both his hands into the water and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, he was staring at a forest with a view of the setting sun in between the trees. It took his breath away. And he didn't even have to say anything to make the image appear! He wasn't quite experienced in using his angelic powers, but he knew usually there was some kind of an incantation.

He watched flies and saw a rabbit hiding in the bushes. Merlin smiled at the size of it. It looked so little, but it was quite big compared to the rabbits Will had described to him. Will was an older angel and Merlin's best friend. He was always patient with Merlin no matter how many stupid questions he asked.

Suddenly, Merlin heard a swift sound pierce through the wind, and as soon as he saw blood on the previously clean brown fur of the rabbit, he knew what happened. Someone put an arrow through the little creature's chest and it made Merlin's eyes prickle with tears.

"Rest in peace, little guy," Merlin whispered as the rabbit stopped breathing and its tiny black eyes closed.

Then the human that was responsible for the rabbit's death came into view. Merlin frowned, only seeing the back of his head. His hair was blonde. And his clothes were red and he had a brown jacket. That was all Merlin noticed until the human turned around and Merlin stopped frowning.

His hair was falling slightly over his blue eyes and forehead, and his face looked... satisfied. Was he so happy because he killed an animal? What kind of human did that?

" _That's enough for today, we're heading back. Leon, take the last rabbit. We'll take them to the royal kitchen."_ The young man said, still managing to keep Merlin's interest.

So they killed the animal for food? Merlin wondered if he could ever do that. Angels didn't need to eat... or sleep.

He kept watching the boy until he arrived with his group of men at a big white castle, and only then Merlin realized that the boy was a prince. He smiled at him and leaned closer to the water, completely forgetting he was still in heaven and no there with the humans. He's never felt this... connected. For a moment, he almost forgot about the missing thing in his heart and he felt... content. As if he didn't need to have a human to protect, as if whether he became a good angel didn't even matter as long as he could stay by the pond and keep watching the prince.

Then suddenly someone laughed, and it took Merlin a minute to realize the sound didn't come from the water. He jumped slightly and looked up, seeing that it was Will. His cheeks turned pink again, but he didn't make the image in the water disappear. Will was his friend after all.

"I thought I'd find you here." Will told him, which made Merlin frown.

"How? I've never been here before."

"That is exactly why." Will sat down next to him. "You're always so curious, Merlin. I knew one day you'd try to use the pond." When Merlin smiled and looked down into the water again, Will followed his gaze. "Ah, Arthur Pendragon."

"Do you know him?" Merlin's smile widened and he sat closer to Will. "He's a prince, isn't he?"

Will nodded. "Yes, he's a prince of one of the kingdoms down there. Camelot. This human will one day become the king as many before him, and he will lead his kingdom to better days."

Merlin grinned, but then his smile wavered a little. He looked down and started playing with his fingers. He didn't know how to approach the subject he wanted to talk about...

"How do..." He started and then closed his mouth again. When he looked up and saw that Will was nodding and patiently waiting for him to continue, it gave Merlin more courage. "How do angels pick their humans? Or are they assigned? Do I get to pick or are there some rules or... how does it all work?"

Will chuckled. "Angels can pick any human to protect unless the human already has their angel." Will explained to him, glancing down at the prince, who was now walking up the stairs inside the castle. "Some angels pick at random, others like to watch humans and then pick one that they feel they should keep an eye on."

Merlin nodded, processing the new information. Then he looked down at the human, Arthur Pendragon, and pursed his lips.

"Does..." he cleared his throat. "Does... he have an angel yet?"

"The prince?" Will smiled. "No, I believe he doesn't." Then he leaned over the edge of the pond and watched Arthur together with Merlin. Merlin could feel that Will was looking at him. "Do you want to become his angel?" Will asked finally, asking the question for Merlin.

The young angel looked up at him and smiled. "I've never felt like this, Will. It's... it's... it's like I just  _know_ it's him, you know?" Merlin struggled to explain and laughed a little. "It's just... it's... I don't know what it is. But I feel this sort of connection, as if I..." Merlin stopped talking and frowned. It was as if he wanted to go down there and talk to Arthur and experience what it was like to live like a human being, to be able to sleep and eat and work. It was as if... as if he was supposed to be born down there and instead, by some mistake, ended up in heaven.

He didn't tell this to Will though. "As if I already was his protective angel." He smiled up at his friend.

"I understand." Will patted him on the shoulder. When he stood up, Merlin made the image in the water disappear with his fingers, just as a beautiful dark haired young lady in a green dress came into Arthur's room, and he followed Will into the Garden.

"Believe me, I understand." Will smiled.

And together they walked through the Garden, talking and laughing like always. Merlin couldn't stop thinking about Arthur though because the strange feeling of something quite not right returned.

xoXÖXox

"As a symbol of our goodwill, and of our newfound friendship," king Bayard said to the room full of people, "I present these ceremonial goblets to you, Uther, to your son, Arthur, and to your ward, Morgana, in the hope that our friendship may last."

He gestured with his hand to his servants, who brought the goblets to the three most important people of Camelot. Arthur was quite impressed to see how beautiful the goblets looked as he took his into his hand and quickly looked it over before the servant poured some wine into it.

"The wounds we received in battle... Tonight we toast a new beginning for our peoples. We look towards a future free from the toils of war." Bayard continued.

Arthur forced a smile and raised his goblet into the air, praying that it wouldn't take long until they were allowed to take a sip so his arm wouldn't hurt too much. He hated these ceremonials, but he was the son of the king and there was nothing he could do about it. The only thing he could do to feel better was go hunting. Not for the pleasure of killing animals, he didn't kill them unless he needed to, but at least he wasn't stuck in the enormous castle and felt a little bit free. You know, if he didn't have to have an entire group of knights surrounding him on every step.

"And may the differences from our past remain there. To your health, Uther. " Bayard smiled as everyone stood up to get ready to make a toast. "Arthur," Bayard added and Arthur nodded and brought the goblet to his lips, only to stop as Bayard continued, "The Lady Morgana."

Morgana nodded and Arthur smiled again, this time waiting until Bayard was done with the toast.

"The people of Camelot." Bayard finished. Arthur smiled and put the goblet closer to his mouth and almost spilled it when he had to stop his hand because his father wanted to add something to the toast as well.

"And to fallen warriors on both sides." Uther smiled and raised the cup again, finally,  _finally_  taking a sip and Arthur with Morgana followed his example.

Everyone smiled as they sat down again.

Arthur briefly closed his eyes and prayed that this party was soon over so he could go back to his training with his knights. Morgana cleared her throat and Arthur opened his eyes, sighing quietly.

Morgana cleared her throat again, louder, and this time Arthur frowned and looked at her. She was sitting next to Uther, who was sitting between him and her. She clutched her throat and frowned.

"Morgana?" Uther scowled in worry and turned to her, glancing at Bayard. Arthur stood up to see better what was going on, but it was too late. Morgana gasped for air but  _couldn't._  She looked at both Uther and him with panic in her eyes and held her neck with both her arms before she stood up and supported herself with a hand on the table.

"Morgana!" Uther yelled and then turned to the knights, pointing at Bayard. "It's poisoned! Guards, seize him!"

Arthur immediately stood up and ran to Morgana's side, catching her just in time as she fell down, unconscious. Her eyes were moving under her eyelids and she was paler than ever, and Arthur had no idea what to do. Guards were already drawing their swords and pointing them at Bayard and his men, and Uther was looking down at his ward and then with hatred at the other king.

Arthur searched Gaius with his eyes in the room, and thankfully the old physician was already rushing towards him together with Morgana's maidservant.

"Morgana!" Gaius called her name and took her wrist in between his two fingers. Then he placed the back of his hand above her mouth and nodded. "She's alive, but she's struggling to breathe. Arthur, take her to her chambers, Gwen fetch me some water and fresh bandages, they're in my chambers by the window."

The young girl nodded and ran away, just as Uther turned back to Arthur who was already carrying Morgana in his arms. "I'm taking her to her chambers, father." He told Uther, who nodded and looked almost as pale as Morgana.

"Gaius?" Uther looked at his old friend with fear in eyes, and Gaius put his hand on his shoulder.

"I will see what I can do, sire. First, we need to identify the poison and make sure she stays alive."

Uther nodded. "Do your best." Then he turned back to Bayard, but Arthur couldn't hear what he was saying. He was already leaving the room in a hurry, heading towards Morgana's chambers.

When they arrived there, he laid her down on her bed and stepped aside, letting Gaius take a look. Gaius leaned over her and started examining what was wrong, and Arthur turned away in frustration. When he turned back, the young maidservant was just rushing into the room.

"I have the water and bandages." She said as she neared the bed. Gaius nodded and took the bandages, wetting them in the water and then putting them on Morgana's forehead.

"Is she going to be alright?" Arthur asked. Uther walked into the room just in time to hear Gaius' reply.

"She's burning up." Gaius said with a frown.

"You can cure her, can't you Gaius?" Arthur continued as he crossed his arms on his chest.

"I need to identify the poison first, then we'll see." Gaius turned to Gwen and then he looked at Arthur and Uther, who had knelt down next to Morgana's bed and taken her hand into his. "Do you have the goblet?"

Arthur nodded and ran to the door. "Guards! Get Morgana's goblet from the throne room, quickly!" They nodded and ran away, but Arthur still didn't feel better.

He didn't feel better even when the goblet was in Gaius' hands. The old man was examining it until he noticed a petal Bayard left behind as he was lacing the goblet with poison. It was stuck on the inside of the goblet.

"I need to get to my quarters." Gaius said as he was looking at the petal inside the goblet. He didn't dare touch it. "And see if I can identify the flower."

"What about her?" Uther asked immediately, looking up at Gaius.

"There is nothing more I can do until I know what kind of poison this is, my lord." He told him as he bowed. Uther nodded and Gaius left the room, together with Arthur.

They hurried together into the courtyard and then up the tower into Gaius' chambers again. The physician immediately went to his library while Arthur couldn't do anything but wait. Luckily, Gaius knew exactly what book to look for, and soon he laid it open on the table and bowed over it, showing Arthur what flower the petal was from.

"Here," he told him, pointing to the picture of the flower. "The petal comes from the Mortaeus flower. It says here that someone poisoned by the Mortaeus can only be saved by a potion made from the leaf of the very same flower. It can only be found in the caves deep beneath the Forest of Balor. The flower grows on the roots of the Mortaeus tree."

"That's not particularly friendly." Arthur commented, looking at the next picture – a strange creature. He knew there was only one way to save Morgana though and that was to go to the cave and find the flower.

"A Cockatrice." Gaius continued as he pointed at the picture of the monster. "It guards the forest. Its venom is potent. A single drop would mean certain death. Few who have crossed the Mountains of Isgaard in search of the Mortaeus flower have made it back alive."

Arthur only shrugged. "Sounds like fun."

Gaius immediately looked up at him and raised his eyebrow in a frown. "Arthur, it's too dangerous. Uther would never allow it."

"Uther wants to save Morgana." Arthur told him. "What happens to her if I don't get the antidote?"

Gaius pursed his lips. "The Mortaeus induces a slow and painful death. She may hold out for four, maybe five days, but not for much longer. Eventually, she will die."

"Then it's decided." Arthur nodded. When Gaius didn't know what to answer to make him stop, Arthur turned around and started walking towards the door. "I'll be back, hopefully before she dies. I need to be."

"Arthur, this is foolishness!" Gaius called after him. "Go to your father and take your knights with you!"

"There's no time, Gaius!" Arthur said as he closed the door and ran down the stairs until he reached the stables just outside the courtyard. He knew he was acting spontaneously and that he should have talked to his father first just like Gaius had advised him to do, but he knew exactly what his father would say.

That Arthur couldn't go even with a group of knights because the journey was too dangerous and he was the crown prince of Camelot and blah blah blah something about him being too young. Well, how was Arthur supposed to learn how to be a good king if he couldn't even find a simple flower? He needed to grow up and start preparing for what was coming – him being the king and Uther being gone. He couldn't let his father do everything, so he couldn't let a bunch of knights go after the flower without him either. He had to make sure he found it and that he was back in Camelot in time. He couldn't just stay in Camelot and do nothing.

And so he took his horse and within the next ten minutes, he was out of the gates, galloping away into the forest, heading south to the mountains of Isgaard.

It wasn't long until he was surprised by a strange crying girl, sitting all alone on a log. And then by the beast guarding the forest of Balor...

xoXÖXox

Merlin was walking through the Garden again, but it's been a long time since he paid proper attention to the flowers. Lately, his mind was filled with images of the prince, and with theories of how to become his protective angel. Merlin walked around the bushes and under the apple trees with a light smile on his face.

He was heading to the pond again, as he did many, many times before. He already knew the prince was supposed to meet with another king today, he happened to overhear that conversation with the prince's father.

He wouldn't call it  _stalking_. No. He wasn't watching the prince's every move (although he wished he could). More like... an interested observation? Studying humanity?

The young angel sighed as he rounded the last corner before he was supposed to find the pond  _without_  any other angels. To his discomfort though, he found at least five of them. They were older, and they were all watching a young dark haired lady with a blue dress who was lying in bed and looked very ill. Merlin saw this because he used his wings to fly over them and look at the surface of the water.

With a silent gasp, he realized it was the king's ward, lady Morgana. He saw her talking to his pri- to  _the_ prince a few times before. And the king was sitting next to her, clutching her hand and kissing it with tears in his eyes.

"She's strong, but I still need to help her." He heard one of the older angels say. It was probably Morgana's protective angel Merlin assumed as he saw that the angel closed her eyes and held her hand out towards the image in the water. She started saying something in Latin, using her powers to help Morgana stay alive, but that was all she could do. Merlin knew she couldn't actually use her powers to change things down on the Earth, angels weren't supposed to interfere with humans. Humans weren't even supposed to see them! But angels could help out in little ways, here and there, and hope that humans took care of the rest.

Merlin watched with fascination as the older angel opened her eyes again and looked down at Morgana.

"She seems a little better." Another angel commented, but the first angel was still frowning.

"Barely. Someone must have used magic with the poison." She said with a sigh. "Nimueh." She added.

"Well, for lady Morgana's sake, I sure hope the prince is back with the antidote very soon." Another angel said.

Merlin's eyes widened as he heard that. "The prince?" He asked without thinking and all the angels except for the first one looked up at him.

"What are you doing up there, boy?" One of them asked and Merlin's cheeks turned pink.

"I was curious." He shrugged as he flew back on the ground. They were much taller now... "What happened to her?" He pointed to Morgana in the pond.

Morgana's angel turned to him to answer. "She drank from a poisoned chalice planted there by a witch called Nimueh, instead of the harmless chalice that was supposed to be given to her by one of the kings. And now she's dying."

"And the prince?" Merlin asked, trying to look not at all worried about the young blonde man that he grew to care about so much. "You said he was looking for an antidote?"

"That he is." The second angel said. It was only now that Merlin recognised her as Will's friend Shildre. "He's searching for a flower, but the journey is dangerous. Surely he'll lose his life."

"He's strong too." Merlin defended the young prince and hated that he blushed again when two of the angels raised their eyebrows. Before they could say anything, Merlin added, "he's the prince, he must be."

"Sure." One of them said and then they all looked back into the pond.

Merlin decided not to talk to them again and embarrass himself even more, and so he pretended to walk away but instead hid behind a tree. He wanted to wait until they all left so he could check on Arthur, but they were still not leaving. It was so frustrating! Knowing that the prince was in danger, but all they cared about was the lady Morgana. And Merlin didn't dare go there and demand to see the prince as well.

It took a few hours, but eventually they all left, seeing that Morgana was not getting better, but was not getting worse either. Merlin quickly ran to the pond and immediately touched the water.

An image of the prince soon emerged and Merlin gasped. The prince was in a very dark place. He was hanging off a wall inside a cave, trying very hard to fight off enormous spiders that were coming to hurt him, all while trying to reach a tiny yellow flower.

Merlin gasped as he saw this. He stood up and his heart was beating faster than before. He felt helpless. He wasn't Arthur's protective angel and Arthur wasn't his human. He wasn't supposed to interfere... but perhaps... perhaps he could try to help him? He needed to learn what it was like to have a human to protect, right? And he knew Arthur would be his human anyway, so it didn't matter that he made sure Arthur didn't die before Merlin could actually become his protective angel.

He closed his eyes like he saw the other angel do, and he raised his hand above the water, keeping it also above Arthur's face. He took a deep breath.

" _Vires volo ut iam, Uti vires volo bonum. Adiuvare. Volo autem... ehm... Contemnere volumus in spelunca? Facere in gradibus spelunca!_ " Merlin held his breath for a few seconds so he could concentrate better, but when he looked back at the prince, he was in the same situation as before.  _Alone_.

Merlin really wasn't good with all these incantations. He never knew how to use his powers, but when he did, they always surprised him with their intensity.

"Damn it,  _Non possum veniat Helias liberans eum!_ "

Suddenly as if he heard a thunder in the distance, he jumped in surprise and then frowned. Everything was dark and he was cold. The Garden looked... different. And the pond was gone.

Merlin hugged himself and looked around. It must have been because of the forbidden word he used! "No," he eyes widened when he realized he was not in the Garden at all. Where the hell was he?! (He mentally slapped himself for using another bad word, but he was in a kind of a situation here.)

Then he quickly looked up and saw the stars and a few dark clouds flying across the sky. "No. No!" He panicked and turned around, finding no one. He was alone. Just like the prince in the cave.

And judging by the cold and the strange trees all around him and different air... he was on the Earth.

Just as he was about to take his panicking to a higher level, he heard something just from behind a large tree. He heard a sword! As he slowly rounded the tree and frowned, he noticed a big hole in the ground and recognised it as the cave Arthur was trapped in.

A smile replaced the frown on his face. Maybe he could help the prince after all...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> \- _"Vires volo ut iam, Uti vires volo bonum. Adiuvare. Volo autem... ehm... Contemnere volumus in spelunca? Facere in gradibus spelunca!"_ \- I wish to use my powers now, I wish to use my powers for good. To help. I wish to... to... ehm... to make light in the cave? To make a staircase in the cave!  
>  \- _"Non possum veniat Helias liberans eum!"_ \- I can't leave him alone!
> 
> Thanks for reading! I really hope you're excited for the next chapter (Arthur and Merlin finally meet, yay)! :D And please leave a comment, thanks! ;)


	2. Angels Don't Need Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another chapter! I couldn't update yesterday (I was with my family at our weekend house for three days without wifi), but I'd proofread this before that so I'm ready to post it now :) I hope you'll like it!

This wasn't the first time Arthur hated his chainmail more than he hated boring council meetings his father had him sit through. But this was certainly the first time that he was genuinely worried he might die because of a piece of metal that was supposed to  _protect_ him. And the first time that he knew his death would result in another death – if he didn't come back with the flower, Morgana would surely die.

No matter what, he just  _had_ to come back. He had to survive. But the enormous spiders crawling up the cave wall weren't making it any easier, especially when he had only one arm to keep himself balanced and his heavy armour was making it even harder to move up and reach the flower, let alone get out of the cave. The only way out was  _up_ , and gravity wasn't exactly on his side.

Arthur took a few quick breaths and then tried to kill another spider with his sword. He missed. But on the second try, he managed to throw it down the seemingly bottomless pit that he tried hard not to think about.

Just as he was about to climb another inch up, a strange blue light orb appeared next to him, giving him light and as if looking at him.

"Come on then! What are you waiting for?! Finish me off!" Arthur yelled at it, barely holding on to the wall. The witch he had just met was most probably just making sure he was dead, or she wanted to watch his death through this magical light orb.

Arthur tried to swing his sword at it, but he missed and couldn't try again because of more spiders. In the end, he stopped worrying about the orb because at least it was giving him light and it wasn't attacking him. He used it to his advantage and fought off the spiders, climbing up inch by inch, until he finally reached the flower. He hid it inside his belt and turned back to the cave wall, eyeing the light orb suspiciously.

It was just... floating there, keeping an eye on him, as if observing him. Waiting and giving him its bluish white light. It didn't seem dangerous... Arthur shook his head and started climbing up again, killing another spider and then finally getting out of the cave, emerging in the middle of a forest next to a huge hole in the ground.

He lay down on the grass and closed his eyes, still feeling the orb above him. When he opened his eyes though, it flew away and he found himself in darkness again. As quickly as he could, he stood up and checked if he still had his flower. When he was sure it was still tucked under his belt, he smiled and looked around.

It was only then when he noticed someone was hiding behind a tree.

"Hello?" He called. "Is it you again? Are you too afraid to show up? Your spiders didn't work! Is that really all you've got?" He drew his sword and pursed his lips. He knew he shouldn't be playing with the witch like that, she had a very big advantage on her side – magic. She might as well throw him back into the cave.

That was why he quickly stepped away from the hole and pointed his sword at the tree that someone was hiding behind.

To his surprise, the one he was talking to peeked at him. It was a boy, a young dark-haired boy with... Arthur's eyes widened and his hand with the sword dropped to his waist. "Are those wings?" He mumbled. Then he regained his posture and frowned. "Who are you! Speak!"

The boy stepped away from the tree, his huge white wings knocking into a twig from the tree he was hiding behind. He hissed and  _moved_  his wings closer to his back and then he looked up at the prince with his eyes wide and curious and a little bit scared.

"Y-you can s-see me?" He stuttered.

Arthur frowned. "Of course I can see you." He said, not putting away his sword. Not yet. He looked up at the wings and back down at the boy. Then a thought crossed his mind. "Are you a sorcerer?" He asked. He was genuinely curious, but also on high alert. All sorcerers were evil, weren't they?

"What?" The boy laughed softly and he made a few steps towards Arthur, stopping when he saw Arthur tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword. "I'm not a sorcerer, I'm a... um... I'm not supposed to be here." He avoided the question. But Arthur wasn't one to argue with.

"Who are you then?" He asked. "If you had anything to do with king Bayard and his pois-"

"No, not at all, no." The boy said. "Look, you're not even supposed to see me, I... uh..." he scratched his head and swallowed. Then he shrugged and looked up at the trees and made a few steps closer to Arthur again. It surprised him how  _unalarmed_  the boy was by Arthur's sword.

"Will you answer my question then? Who are you?" Arthur demanded. "And are those wings? Answer me!"

The boy looked at Arthur and there was pain in his eyes. "No, sorry, I can't."

"What do you mea-"

With that and without letting Arthur finish his another question, the boy spread his wings and used them to fly up into the dark night. Arthur looked up, but he couldn't see him in the dark.

He was alone again.

Arthur looked around a few times, still keeping his sword in his hand, but in the end, he sheathed it again and went to look for his horse to get back to Camelot in time. Morgana's life depended on him after all.

xoXÖXox

Merlin kept flying until he was sure the prince couldn't see him anymore and couldn't follow him. He stopped in mid-air, beating his wings and looking around before he slowly landed in between the trees in the forest and looked up through the branches.

All he could see were hundreds of stars and the moon and clouds. No heaven, no Garden, no angels, not even Will. Merlin sighed and frowned, wrapping his wings around himself.

He screwed up. Seriously. Humans were never supposed to see angels unless it was completely necessary. And that was  _rare._  He was a young angel and didn't even have a human and he wasn't supposed to just go down here and let Arthur see him, let alone  _talk_  to him. That was unacceptable.

Merlin shivered and frowned. He felt something... on his forearms. When he moved his wings and looked at his arms, he saw what it was. Goosebumps. He was  _cold._  He's never experienced this, the temperature in the Garden was always perfect.

He gritted his teeth and looked up at the sky. " _Nunc viribus uti volo. Volo ad caelos!"_

But nothing happened. He tried again, louder, but before he could finish, he saw something move in the dark forest. He quickly spread his wings and flew up to a branch, noticing it was only a squirrel.

" _Nunc viribus uti volo. Volo ad caelos! Obsecro!"_

The night was still cold, the forest was dark and the stars were the same above him. Nothing happened and he was still alone. And afraid. With fear in eyes, he realized he had no idea how to get back home and that he was stuck down here, on Earth. Among humans.  _With_ his wings.

Thinking about them, he realized they were his only hope for help. He could use them to get to the only place he could – the only place he knew on Earth – Camelot.

But what about his wings? Oh, right. "I can make them invisible." He whispered and hit himself in his forehead with his palm. He was such an idiot! Why hadn't he hidden them from Arthur before?! Then he would have thought Merlin was only a lost boy or something and he wouldn't have pointed his sword at him. But it was too late for that, and Arthur knew he wasn't human.

Actually, Arthur was his only help because he was the only human who saw him, and Merlin had to keep it that way. He had to find Arthur and ask him for help. It was his only way back to heaven.

None of the angles were expecting to find one of their own on Earth, let alone in the middle of a forest. They were watching over their humans, not over squirrels. Which was why Merlin had to get to Camelot too. He was sure one of the angels was watching someone in that castle and maybe someone would notice him and save him. But, not every angel in heaven knew him...

Merlin closed his eyes and sighed. No matter what, Camelot was his only chance. He spread his wings again and flew above the trees, flying back to where he met Arthur and then quickly following his footsteps, walking on his own. He wasn't in the forest anymore and there was always the possibility he could meet someone on his way to the castle. He  _could_  make himself invisible and just fly there, but... to be honest, now that he was on Earth, finally breathing in the air around him and seeing the nature from so close... he really wanted to walk to Camelot on his own and spend some time in nature. So he only hid his wings and started walking, hoping he'd find Arthur on the way or in the castle.

xoXÖXox

Arthur left his horse in the stables and ran back into the castle, right into Gaius' chambers. He gave him the Mortaeus flower and then ran for fresh water, while Gaius worked on the antidote, and when he returned, it was done. They quickly poured it into a little vial and left the quarters, heading back to Morgana's chambers.

The prince was worried about her. She wasn't really his sister, but it felt like that. And he knew they were usually just insulting each other and bickering, but he loved her. And he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he was too late and let her die.

Once they opened the door, Uther raised his head and Arthur could see rage in them.

"Arthur!" He called. "Where have you been? I have sent guards to find you, I-"

"We have the antidote!" Arthur interrupted him, thankful that the rage in his father's eyes got replaced by surprise and hope.

"Hurry then," Uther gestured towards his ward that was lying in bed. Arthur watched as Gaius came to her and opened her mouth, pouring the potion in and then closing it.

That was the first time Arthur noticed the blisters on her skin. His eyes widened and fear gripped his heart. He hoped they weren't too late. Her skin was pale and she looked as if she was dead. Arthur couldn't see her like that, but with every passing second, his hope kept slipping away.

Finally, Morgana gasped and started coughing.

"Morgana!" Uther smiled and leaned closer to her, together with Gaius and Arthur and Morgana's maid that he didn't notice was in the room with them too. They all let out a huge sigh of relief, and while Gaius took Uther away to tell him something in private, Arthur sat down on the edge of his sister's bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked her, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"As if I got run over by a horse." Morgana smiled up at him. She still looked pale and he could clearly see how weak she was. Then she frowned. "You don't look so good yourself. What happened?"

Arthur shrugged. "I went on a day-long trip. To find a flower that would save your life."

"Oh, you did, didn't you?" Morgana smirked as she closed her eyes. "I knew you cared about me." And before Arthur could answer, Morgana reached out her hand towards her maid. "Gwen?"

"I'm here, my lady." The girl answered, taking her hand.

"What time is it? How long was I unconscious?" She asked, finally opening her eyes and finding Gwen's face after a few seconds.

"It's close to midnight. You were unconscious the whole day." Gwen told her, squeezing her hand and smiling. "But the prince saved your life, now you're going to be alright."

Morgana nodded.

"She needs rest," Gaius turned to them, just as Uther turned around with a grim expression.

"But-"

"No buts, Morgana." Gaius shook his head. "As your doctor, I know what's best for you. Now shush, and try to sleep. It's late."

Morgana nodded and sighed.

"Sleep well," Arthur told her as he left the bed and walked over to his father. Uther was just speaking to the guards, but Arthur didn't hear what he told them. And he didn't care. He's been stuck on a cave wall for at least an hour and now he needed to get to his bed otherwise he might pass out right there in Morgana's chambers.

He left her rooms and walked back to his own chambers, opening the doors and closing his eyes. He was exhausted and would prefer a bath, but it was too late for that and his manservant was already asleep, wherever he lived.

"Hello." Someone said and Arthur immediately opened his eyes and reached for his sword, realizing it was not there. He must have left it on his horse.

As he looked up with bare hands, he frowned. The dangerous intruder in his chambers was the boy he met in the forest. The boy with wings that... Arthur couldn't see now. Did he even have wings? Was it only some magic trick? "You followed me here?" He asked, slowly moving towards his table, where he'd left his dagger from earlier that day.

The boy shrugged. "I had nowhere else to go." He told him. Then he stepped forward with his hands up in surrender. "Please, I didn't come here to hurt you. The light you saw in the cave... that was me."

"So you  _are_  a sorcerer!" Arthur frowned and considered calling the guards, but he couldn't be faster than any spell and he was already too close to the table.

"I'm not a sorcerer." The boy hurriedly said.

"Then what about the wings I saw!" Arthur asked him, finally reaching the dagger and pointing it at the boy, but he didn't seem alarmed.

"I'm sorry, you weren't supposed to see them." He said and looked at the dagger in Arthur's hands. "No mortal blade can kill me, sorry." He apologized again, making Arthur frown.

"What if this isn't a mortal blade?" Arthur tried, knowing damn well it was a normal dagger.

The boy pursed his lips. "It is, I can feel it."

"How?" Arthur asked, but the boy only shrugged again. So Arthur tried another question, far more important. "What are you doing here? Why did you follow me?"

The boy's shoulders slumped. "I... I need your help."

xoXÖXox

Merlin saw that Arthur paused and stayed silent for a while, probably thinking about what to do. Merlin didn't have to say anything to use his powers in a small way, for example, he could read minds. And he knew Arthur was hesitating right now, deciding if he should use the dagger or call the guards or demand more answers.

"Well?" Merlin asked. He wasn't very patient.

Arthur pursed his lips but didn't hide his dagger. "Prove that you're not evil. If you want my help, I need to know what you need from me and why you want it and why should I help you."

Merlin sighed and went over to sit on Arthur's bed. Arthur didn't seem to mind... a lot. So Merlin moved his hand and made his wings visible again.

"You want answers." He said. "I've already broken a couple of rules, but in order to get home, I need your help, and for your help I need to prove I'm good and tell you more, which means breaking more rules, but I guess I'll have to do it because I already miss the Garden an-"

"Could you please start making sense?" Arthur stopped him. He put the dagger into his belt and slowly sat down on a chair at the table. "You can start by telling me who you are."

Merlin sighed again. "I'm... not a sorcerer. You can see my wings now, and I doubt you've ever seen a sorcerer with wings."

"True." Arthur nodded and looked at Merlin's white wings warily. "So you are..."

"An angel." Merlin finished for him and smiled. "You probably won't believe me right away, but I'm here and I'm real. And I need to get back home."

"And you want my help with that?" Arthur laughed. "Even if you were an angel... I'm only a human. How do you expect me to help you?"

"Well, I'm not sure exactly." Merlin frowned. "I don't know how to get home and I know you won't know how to do that either, but I was kind of hoping someone from heaven would notice I'm missing and the biggest chance that they do is if I stay here, where there's a lot of people that my brothers and sisters watch over."

"You're not making sense again." Arthur rubbed his eyes, yawning. "So... you want to get home, and I need to help you... how?"

"You'll let me stay here." Merlin smiled at him. He couldn't believe he was actually talking to Arthur. To a human. To the very human, he wanted to protect once he returned to heaven.

"And if I let you stay here, what do I get for it?" Arthur asked. "Why shouldn't I just call the guards now and let them take you to the dungeons?"

"See this?" Merlin pointed at his wings that disappeared again. "I can make myself invisible, so you would look like a fool if you called them for nothing." When Arthur frowned, Merlin quickly added, "but of course I can't make you let me stay. But... you know, I'm an angel in need and you're human, so if you help me, I guess... you'll go to heaven once you die."

"That is if you are an angel though and aren't lying." Arthur pointed out. "What if I die young? What if I die tomorrow and won't be able to help you?"

"I'll do everything in my power not to let you die." Merlin told him honestly and smiled, standing up. He was glad that Arthur didn't reach for his dagger this time. "I know who you are, and although I'm too young to have a human to protect, I want it to be you. And once I'm back in heaven, I'll make sure you're okay."

"That's... nice?" Arthur raised his eyebrows but was still frowning. "Um... I need leave." Arthur stood up and put the dagger into his belt. Merlin quickly searched his mind and found out he wanted to go to that old physician that he saw by Morgana's bed in the pond.

"People can't know I'm here." Merlin took a step closer to him. "Please think twice before you tell someone. I'm in hiding. Humans shouldn't see me at all, this was really just a huge mistake." Merlin confessed and sat back on the bed.

Arthur didn't say anything and quickly left his chambers, not saying anything to the guards in the hall. Merlin smiled to himself and lay down on the bed.

He just actually  _talked_ to Arthur.

He couldn't believe how easy it was to find him and talk to him and let him see his wings and all of that. He'd thought it would be much harder. Well, actually, when he was still in heaven he thought he'd never get the chance to talk to Arthur, but seeing how easy it was now, he was glad he messed up the spell and ended up here.

He wouldn't even mind if the angels didn't find him at all. He never really felt at home in heaven. It was his home of course, and he loved it. But he always liked to watch the Earth in the pond. He loved to watch Arthur especially.

His cheeks started to feel little warmer than usual and he quickly touched them, hurrying to the mirror on the wall. Was he... blushing? Why was he blushing? Merlin shook his head and smiled to himself when he thought about Arthur again. He'd love to be his angel, but at the same time, that thought made him sad. If he returned to heaven and became Arthur's angel, he would never talk to him again. He would just watch his life from afar.

Merlin sighed and went to sit down on the bed again. He didn't know what to do. He was used to not sleeping at all and having all the time in the world, but the Earth was so interesting and he wanted to explore as much as he could. But at the same time, he was stuck in Arthur's rooms and it wouldn't be appropriate to just go through his things.

So he lay down and sighed again, suddenly feeling something he's never felt before. His eyes closed on their own, and he didn't fight it. And within the next few seconds, he was asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation
> 
>  
> 
> \- "Nunc viribus uti volo. Volo ad caelos!" - I wish to use my powers now. I wish to return to heaven.  
> \- "Nunc viribus uti volo. Volo ad caelos! Obsecro!" - I wish to use my powers now. I wish to return to heaven. Please!
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoyed it and that you're looking forward to the next chapter! To be honest, every damn time I reread some of their conversations in this fanfic or when I'm naming the chapter, all I can think about are Supernatural references :D This chapter had an alternative name "I'm an Angel, You Ass" :D Anyway, thanks for reading! ;)
> 
> P.S.: check the name of this chapter again *evil laughter*


	3. I'll Just Wait Here Then

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you write fanfiction and have ever written an AU... did you ever just _forget_ that one character didn't even know the name of the other? No? Okay, then... _me neither._ *laughs nervously*

Arthur hurried out of the castle into the courtyard, and then up the tower to Gaius' quarters. Once he stood in front of the door and raised his hand to knock, he suddenly realized that it was still after midnight. He put his hand down and frowned. He didn't want to disturb Gaius, they all needed sleep, but having an  _angel_  in his chambers?

That  _was_  an emergency.

He closed his eyes and finally knocked on the door, patiently waiting for a response. He heard Gaius curse and stand up, walking towards the door with a creak of the floor on every step. Finally, the door opened.

"My lord?" Gaius frowned, opening the door more so Arthur could walk inside. Once he closed the door again, he asked, "what are you doing here at this hour?"

"I'm so sorry, Gaius," Arthur started and then stopped, taking a deep breath. Gaius watched him with a raised eyebrow.

"Did something happen?" He asked, leading Arthur to the bench so they could both sit down. "Is Morgana okay?"

"Yes, she's alright." Arthur nodded. "Sleeping, I guess. But that's not why I came here." Arthur looked into his eyes and finally said what he never thought he'd say, slowly and clearly. "There's an angel in my chambers."

Gaius was silent and his mouth was open. "Excuse me, sire, but I don't think I understand what you mean."

"What I mean is, that there is a man in my chambers, who has wings and can make himself invisible and tells me he's an angel." Arthur told him. "I... don't know what to do. Do you know anything about angels?"

Gaius raised his eyebrow again and stood up, heading to his little library. "I've heard of them a few times, of course." He began. "But, erm, they are creatures of myths, sire. They do not exist." He picked a book and laid it on the table in front of them both.

"Well, this one seems very real." Arthur said as he watched Gaius who started turning the pages, one by one.

"This is a very old book." Gaius told him. "If anyone's ever seen an angel, it should be here. Ah." He pointed at a picture on one page. There was a man with not very long (but not short either) blonde hair, and he had a sword in his hand and an armour. But the more important thing were the wings. They were huge and something between white and gold, almost sparkling.

Arthur stared at the image with a frown. The wings were... fascinating.

"This is supposedly an archangel, Michael." Gaius said. "Did the angel in your chambers have similar wings?"

"Not gold or sparkling." Arthur told him. "Only... white, and pure."

Gaius nodded. "And did he tell you why he was there?"

"Yes." Arthur nodded and looked up at Gaius. "He told me he accidentally ended up here, among humans. Or something like that. He didn't really make sense." He began and swallowed as he rubbed his eyes. He was still tired and his head was starting to hurt from too much nonsense in one day. "He also said he needed my help." He added.

"What help?" Gaius sat down again.

"He said he didn't know how to get back to heaven and that he needed somewhere to stay. Somewhere with a lot of people so other angels would see him or something. I don't know how that makes sense, Gaius, but I don't think he's lying." Arthur admitted. There was just... something about that angel in his room that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Gaius nodded. "According to this book, angels are creatures of truth and righteousness. They do not harm humans and they don't show themselves unless it's necessary. If he really is an angel, then he will not harm you."

"He said he wanted to keep me safe. Even after he got back to heaven." Arthur mused out loud, frowning slightly.

"Then I believe what he is saying, is the truth." Gaius told him simply, which made Arthur look up at him.

"But why me, Gaius? Why me, out of all people?" He asked. "I'm no one special, I'm not even a good person... not really."

"Ah," Gaius raised from his chair and put his hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Don't ever say that." He looked into his eyes. "You're a remarkable young man, Arthur. And a good one. And if that angel can see that in you, then sooner or later, you will too."

"Thank you, Gaius." Arthur stood up and nodded at him with a little smile. It felt good to hear that. Then he looked around and sighed. "I'll let you sleep. It's... really late."

Gaius nodded with a smile. "You should get some sleep as well. Good night, Arthur."

"Good night." Arthur smiled. "And thanks for the advice."

Gaius only smiled and led Arthur out of the room. As soon as the door closed again, Arthur sighed and slowly went back down the stairs in the tower, entered the courtyard, and looked up at the window of his chambers. He couldn't see the angel, but there was still light in his window and he knew the angel was there.

Was it a good idea to let the angel stay? Arthur had no clue. But there was something when he looked into the angel's eyes. Something true, and pure, something that was telling him that it was the right thing to do. He just wished he had some way to prove that he really was an angel and not a sorcerer. But he had  _wings. Literal_ wings on his back, and no sorcerer could have that, right?

He shook his head and entered the castle again, going back into his chambers and closing the door behind himself. He expected the angel to start talking again (because he seemed to like rambling a lot), but there was only silence.

As Arthur turned around, he realized why that was. His beloved bed was  _not_  empty. The angel was lying there, his wings probably invisible and his eyes closed, with soft snores coming out of his mouth.

"Well," Arthur whispered and frowned. What should he do now? The angel apparently followed him all the way from the Isgard mountains, not using his wings judging by how long it took him to get to the castle and that was all it took for him to fall asleep.

The prince stepped closer to the bed and knelt down, looking at the angel. He looked pale, his hair was clean and his eyelashes were long and his cheeks were slightly pink, and he was not even talking about the high  _cheekbones._  His lips were just as beautiful as his eyes when he saw them. If this was the first time Arthur saw him, he'd say the boy was almost cute. He looked very young, probably close to his age, but a little bit younger. He looked innocent and pure. Arthur could almost  _feel_ it himself. This boy was not dangerous, even though he seemed powerful.

For the first time, Arthur realized that Merlin must have been an angel. He was sure of it. Because if he wasn't, how could he look like one?

With a silent sigh, Arthur stood up again and shrugged, walking to the other side of the bed. It was an enormous bed after all, and he needed to sleep just as much as the angel apparently did. He did mind sharing the bed a little bit because it was  _his_ bed, but... angels weren't supposed to hurt people, right? And the idea of sleeping on the floor  _or_  letting the angel sleep on the floor was not acceptable.

So he changed into his sleeping clothes (for once glad that his manservant had the day off and wasn't here), and then went back to the bed, pulling down the covers and getting under them, his head finally hitting the pillow. As soon as he closed his eyes, his exhaustion from just an hour ago returned with full force and he slipped away into the land of dreams within a few seconds.

xoXÖXox

Merlin was very surprised when he opened his eyes and realized it was day. He had no idea angels could sleep, actually, he thought they couldn't because neither he himself (and nor Will) needed to ever before. The Earth was doing something to him, he was sure of it. And he wasn't yet quite sure whether he liked it or not. But when he finally felt fully conscious again, he decided it didn't matter because he was going home soon. That thought made him a little bit sad for some reason, but he willed that feeling away.

He slowly sat up. He had been sleeping in a royal bed, Arthur's bed. But that meant- Merlin turned around and saw the prince, who was already looking at him, his eyes tired and still puffy. Merlin couldn't help but smile when he saw how he looked, his hair was tousled and it was making Merlin feel all sorts of things all at once, things he couldn't recognise because he'd never felt them before.

"Good morning?" Merlin turned around so he was fully facing Arthur, who was still lying under the covers. That movement alone made him realize that their legs and feet were actually  _touching._  His eyes widened and he looked at their legs (that were still hidden under the soft blanket) with a swallow. Then he slowly untangled them and sat up, folding his legs under himself so he could smile at Arthur once more. The prince was still, not talking or moving, only... watching him, probably still too tired to realize what just happened.

Merlin clasped his hands in his lap. "How did you sleep?" He asked politely. He just really wanted to get to know Arthur. The first human he's ever come into contact with, although he shouldn't have.

Arthur blinked at him and frowned. "You fell asleep in  _my_ bed." Arthur told him, not smiling at all. "And I had to sleep only on this half of it."

Merlin pursed his lips. "I was surprised as well, believe me." He told him, seeing something in Arthur's eyes - as if the prince understood for some reason and knew he wasn't lying. "I didn't know angels could fall asleep, I wasn't supposed to."

"Yeah, you tell me." Arthur nodded. "What time is it, my manservant hasn't even arrived here yet." The prince seemed to... blush? And then he groaned and rolled on his back, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and blinking again.

For some reason, Merlin found that adorable.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully and paused. He'd never lost track of time before... Was it because he fell asleep? Was this what being human felt like? Was he...  _becoming_  human by staying on Earth for so long? "I don't know..." he repeated and closed his eyes.

"Well, at least it's not late yet." Arthur mumbled and slowly sat up.

Merlin made his wings visible again while Arthur left the bed. Then he shook his head and yawned, stretching out his wings and arms at the same time. When he heard a knuckle crack, he smiled in satisfaction and turned back to Arthur, surprised that the prince was watching him the whole time.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." Arthur shook his head, looking at his wings. "It's just... unusual." He shrugged, turning his back to Merlin again. "Your wings, you, having someone sleep in my bed..." His voice kept getting quieter and quieter as he spoke until he was only mumbling the last bit.

Merlin felt his cheeks heat up a bit again when he noticed Arthur was  _shirtless_  and he touched them, not quite understanding what was happening. He sighed. Why did all of this start happening once he landed on Earth and why did it always leave him feeling puzzled?

"It's not unusual where I come from." Merlin commented, also standing up. Arthur turned to him with a raised eyebrow and Merlin just shrugged. "I mean... we don't sleep at all and don't really have beds, but we all have wings."

He frowned slightly, feeling a little bit homesick. When he looked at Arthur again though, it all washed away and he felt... happy.

"What is heaven like?" Arthur asked. "Are there people too?"

Merlin laughed at that. "It's probably a lot more beautiful than what you're thinking." He smiled. "I haven't seen the whole of it, but I know there are humans too. A lot of them, but not in the sphere I live in. There is a huge Garden, with trees and-"

Suddenly there were footsteps in front of the door, making them both freeze. Arthur looked at Merlin with wide eyes and quickly strode over to him, grabbing his forearm and dragging him to another room, closing the door behind him.

Just before the door opened, he leaned closer to him and whispered, "don't move, don't speak, don't show up, just shut up."

With that Merlin was left alone, with a door being slammed in his face. He frowned and made a few steps back, accidentally knocking over a scabbard. He froze and gritted his teeth, hoping that whoever walked into Arthur's chambers didn't hear him.

He focused on the voices and found out the second was also a man.

"Here is your breakfast, sire." The voice said and Merlin heard a tray being laid down on the table with a silent clang. It was Arthur's servant then.

"Just pick something for me to wear." He heard Arthur tell his servant. "I'm going on a hunting trip today, so something suitable."

Merlin heard footsteps, almost too close to his door, but they stopped and he heard a closet being open. Then he heard some the servant as he was picking up some clothes. At the same time, he heard Arthur sit down to the table and start eating.

He wished he could be there with him, sitting at the same table, even though he didn't really have to eat to live. But he'd thought he didn't have to sleep either, so what if he had to eat now too?

Merlin slowly moved his wings closer to his body so he wouldn't knock anything down accidentally, and he closed his eyes. How long would he have to be here? Suddenly, after not being affected by time at all in heaven, he felt bored.

"I picked these, sire." He heard the servant say and walk over to the table.

"Alright, that will be all, Morris." Arthur told him. "Put them on the bed and go prepare my horse for the trip. And be ready when I return in the evening."

"Yes, sire." The servant said and then left the room.

As soon as he was outside, Merlin opened the door and got out of the little room, walking over to Arthur and sitting on the chair in front of him. He put his hands on his table and smiled widely at the prince.

"You didn't mention a hunting trip." He told him.

Arthur raised his eyebrow at him. "That's because you're not going." He told him, making Merlin's smile disappear instantly.

"But... I'm supposed to keep you safe." Merlin protested, leaning back in the chair with a little frown on his face.

"You're supposed to stay here and wait until someone notices you're stuck here. That's what you told me." Arthur shrugged and took a bite of the cheese that his servant brought him together with ham and bread and water.

"But..." Merlin opened his mouth and then closed it again. Then he opened it again and leaned closer to the table. "I've never been here, I want to see your world." He said.

Arthur frowned at that. "I don't even know your name." He pointed out, putting his cheese down, back on the tray.

Merlin had to smile at that. "I'm Merlin." He told him. He couldn't believe he forgot to tell him his name! Then he paused and added, "but even though I ended up here on accident, I want to see where you live." He smiled. "To see if it was worth it at least."

"Worth what?" Arthur asked with a suspicious frown.

"Well, I saw you were in danger and I wanted to help you." Merlin answered truthfully.

"How did you know I was in danger?" Arthur frowned at him again, leaning forward as well, curiously.

"Well, there's this pond in the Garden in heaven where we can watch the Earth. And... I saw you." Merlin shrugged. "And I wanted to help, so I tried and instead of helping you, I found myself in the forest and couldn't find my way back. Angels aren't supposed to walk among humans. You shouldn't ever see us, it's one of the main rules up there." He pursed his lips as he looked at Arthur. "It's forbidden to fall in love with a human too." He added, making Arthur pause.

"Why are you telling me this?" He asked him, making Merlin look up at him again.

Their eyes locked, but Merlin looked away. "It's just one of the rules, I don't know." He shrugged. "But you're right." He looked into Arthur's eyes again, this time without a smile. "I'm stuck here."

"See? So you're staying." Arthur sighed as he finished his breakfast and stood up from the table. Merlin did the same thing.

"But I could help you!" He said, hoping it would help somehow. But all it did was that Arthur turned to look at him with a doubtful frown. Why was he frowning literally  _all the time?_

"No one can see you." He said. "How could you  _possibly_  help me? Do you want to fly around, invisible so no one can see you, then get yourself in trouble because you don't know what these woods are like, and then never return with me back to Camelot? I wouldn't even know about it because you'd have to be invisible!"

Merlin looked down and nodded. His wings were visible right now, and he knew Arthur was right. But he still couldn't help but feel... left out. He hoped he could spend as much time with Arthur as he could, and if the angels realized he was gone and came to save him  _while_  Arthur was still on the hunting trip, he'd never even get to say goodbye.

"You're right." Merlin nodded, with a plan already forming in his stubborn head. He looked up at Arthur and smiled. "I'll just... wait here then."

Arthur nodded as well. "Alright."

Then he made a few steps back, gathering all of his clothes that were on the bed into his arms, and getting behind the changing screen. "Don't you come here, I'm getting dressed!" He called.

Merlin only smirked and sat down on the bed. "Don't worry." He replied. "I doubt you could manage to get yourself killed with a belt or something."

xoXÖXox

As soon as Arthur gave Merlin one last stern look and closed the door, Merlin set his plan in motion. He needed to get back to Arthur as soon as he could because the prince was already on his way down to the horses and Merlin wasn't prepared. He just needed to leave with Arthur, you see? He couldn't leave him alone, besides, his servant might return any moment and discover Merlin in the chambers.

Merlin took a deep breath and quickly opened one of the wardrobes, looking for some breeches. He had a long white robe and just couldn't fly or walk with that behind Arthur all day. He probably should have felt guilty about using Arthur's clothes without permission... but to be honest, the thought of him wearing clothes that belonged to Arthur... it made Merlin's stomach feel a little funny.

As soon as he found the breeches, he put them on. Then the young angel glanced out of the window and saw that the prince was already talking to his knights, standing beside their horses.

"Hurry up, Merlin!" He whispered to himself. "You were always the slow one." He added as he pulled the robe over his head and wings, suddenly shivering as the air hit his naked body.

With the thought of Arthur's warm clothes, Merlin quickly put on the breeches and then looked at Arthur's collection of tunics and vests. And then it hit him.

"Oh no," Merlin mumbled and swatted his forehead rather painfully. Arthur didn't have wings and Merlin couldn't just destroy his clothes with two huge holes on the back...

Merlin paced the room, getting more and more agitated by the second. Then he spotted his white robe on the stone floor and bit his nail, thinking.

"No, this will have to make do." He sighed as he grabbed his robe and put it on again, adjusting his wings as he did so. But it was still too long – reaching  _beneath_  his knees.

Should he destroy his original clothes from heaven? Would he be able to repair it again? And if he wouldn't, would Arthur be willing to lend him the breeches he already borrowed without him knowing?

The angel quickly looked out of the window and noticed the prince was already gone.

"Oh no!" He sighed more loudly than he wanted. But he didn't care. He looked down at his  _ridiculous_  appearance, quickly grabbing the end of his robe and tying a huge knot around his waist.

And before the door could open by some guard who heard him in the supposedly empty chambers, Merlin had already made himself invisible and opened the window, jumping outside.

Being back in the air was strange, particularly because he didn't fly often in heaven and looking down at the hard ground below him made him feel a little uneasy. But as he saw that the prince was already gone, he had to fly even  _higher._

He swallowed and moved his wings, flying over the highest tower and then the gate, flying faster than before and searching for Arthur on the way. He couldn't just  _lose_ him after so much trouble he went through because of his  _attire_. But to be honest, he was getting quite cold as he flew through the wind.

When he finally saw Arthur on his horse and a group of men, riding deeper into the forest, Merlin grinned and flew closer to his prince. This was the greatest idea he's had so far. Seeing Arthur like this again, was exactly like in the pond in the Garden.

He was a silent observer, yet again.

Well, not very  _silent_ because for some reason he decided to land on the ground and run after Arthur through the forest. If it was to feel more like a human or simply to enjoy the feeling of his bare feet touching the grass again, he wasn't sure, but he sure as hell knew that it was a mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So did you find the Supernatural reference this time? (Sorry, I just can't help it. I even used it for the chapter title this time *sighs*) Oh and Morris was Arthur's manservant before Merlin and he's only been in two or three episodes in season 1, I think. Poor boy, I liked him.  
> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it :)
> 
>  
> 
> (I just can't stop thinking about how the next chapter is the last chapter before SCHOOL starts again for me. HELLP)  
> (nO I'm not drunk, it's just almost 2am here oops I can't wait to read this in the morning and regret every word loll)  
> (okay byeeee)


	4. A Very Silent Observing Indeed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back with another chapter! :D I hope you'll enjoy it, it's all from Arthur's POV :)

It was a nice day and Arthur certainly liked his time spent in the forest rather than in his own chambers, where he couldn't even have a moment of privacy anymore. Not that he wasn't... strangely flattered by having Merlin there and helping him, but... well, how should he put it... sharing a bed was sort of something that Arthur has never done before.

And it hasn't left his mind since.

Not only was he confused that he wasn't even slightly bothered by having someone in his bed, taking the precious space away from him. He was also quite puzzled by the feeling of it... that it wasn't as horrible as he'd thought it would be and that he didn't mind waking up next to the angel, watching him wake up too.

Arthur shook his head and closed his eyes for a few seconds, opening them again and watching the road and trees in front of him. They were riding all side by side so they could cover more ground and spot more animals to hunt. And right next to him was Sir Leon, his most trusted knight.

The prince sighed when he realized he wasn't even properly thinking about the hunt anymore as he usually would. His mind was occupied with an angel with tousled raven black hair and fluffy white wings that he's seen only twice or three times really, and not even for very long. He couldn't help but be curious as to what it would feel like to touch them... to run his hands across the countless white feathers.

He almost slapped himself for that thought. Not only was that inappropriate because Merlin was an angel and surely wouldn't let him touch his wings, but he didn't even know Merlin at all and he was supposed to be looking out for a deer or a boar or anything else he could put his arrow through.

"Sire?" He heard Leon speak up.

"Yes, Sir Leon?" Arthur glanced at him, and then pretended he was focused on the trees and very intently looking for their prey.

"Pardon me for asking, but... are you alright? You seem... distant." Leon told him, making Arthur tense and then sigh in resignation.

"No, you're right." He told him and smiled briefly. "I'm just worried about lady Morgana." He quickly made up a convincible lie and nodded to make it clear.

"I understand." Leon nodded too. "I'm sure she's already feeling better, Sire." He tried to reassure Arthur, which the prince appreciated. He felt a bit guilty when he realized his thoughts weren't with his sister, but with a strange man he met only the day before.

Why was it that the angel already fascinated him so much that he found himself thinking about him?

"Sire!" Another knight from the other side called quietly. "A deer, sire." He clarified and pointed to a bush that was about thirty feet in front of them.

"Halt!" Arthur raised his fist into the air, signalling his knights to stop their horses. Then he took his crossbow from the back of his horse and put an arrow into it, looking at the deer in the distance. It didn't have a clue that he was about to end its life.

Arthur aimed at the deer's heart and closed his one eye. And then, just as he let the arrow fly through the air, something hit his arm and moved the crossbow away, making the arrow hit a tree. The deer raised its head and moved its ears, quickly spotting them and running away.

Arthur frowned as he looked at his forearm, but the confusion was quickly gone and he nudged his horse to move. "Don't lose it!" He yelled at his knights, all of them now galloping through the forest to catch the deer for the royal kitchen.

After only a minute though, they realized it was gone. Arthur sighed and stopped the horses again, frowning as he remembered what happened as he fired. What was it? He turned around in his saddle, watching the forest behind him, when he heard something...

It sounded like... faint panting and someone... running?

His eyes widened when he put two and two together and realized what was actually happening. "He didn't..." He whispered and then cursed, "damnit," with a sigh of frustration.

"Alright, let's... let's take a few minutes to let the horses rest." He made up a lie again and dismounted his horse with a frown on his face.

"Is everything alright, my lord?" Leon asked him again, but this time Arthur only shook his head.

"Everything's fine." He told the knight and put the reins of his horse into Leon's hand. "I just need a few minutes, that's all." He added and was glad that Sir Leon didn't question it further.

When Arthur turned around at the forest behind them, he tried to spot anything that would indicate that the angel was actually there, but he couldn't. The boy made himself invisible and did everything Arthur asked him not to do.

"Follow me," He whispered as he made a few steps into the forest behind his knights, and he was sure Merlin heard him, if the sigh that followed wasn't just him  _hearing_  things.

He began walking away from his knights, heading for a river that he knew was flowing nearby. It was at a safe distance so the knights wouldn't be able to see them or hear them so they could talk freely. And as soon as he made it to the river, he turned around and put his arms on his waist.

"Now, do me a favour and show yourself." He sighed.

When Merlin appeared in front of him, Arthur wasn't prepared for him to stand so damn close to him. That idiot (okay, sorry,  _an angel)_  was staring into his eyes, standing not even two feet away from him. His puppy dog eyes were another thing Arthur didn't prepare himself for. He took a deep breath and then cleared his throat.

"Personal space?" He said with his throat feeling tight. "You do have that in heaven, right?" He added after Merlin's little frown.

"Of course," Merlin looked down and quickly took a few steps back. Then his puppy dog eyes returned and he looked up into Arthur's eyes again. "I'm so sorry!" He said. "I know you wanted me to stay in the castle, but I wanted to see the forest and I wanted to keep you safe, I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you, I know you're not officially my human to prote-"

"Slow down," Arthur stopped him as he raised his hand. Merlin immediately stopped talking and only then Arthur noticed what Merlin was wearing.

" _What_  on  _Earth_  are you wearing?" He half yelled in a question, seeing his breeches that were too big for Merlin and kept  _almost_  falling off because Merlin apparently thought that  _stealing_  a belt would be already too much.

"I'm sorry!" Merlin apologized again as he adjusted the breeches again, pulling them higher, over the knot (that Arthur kept staring at, even more confused than before). Merlin sighed. "I know I should have asked first, but I needed something more comfortable than... well,  _this_ ," he pointed at his white robe and then shrugged.

"Okay," Arthur closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to process it all. "So all this time, you've been following m-"

"Oh no!" Merlin gasped, making Arthur open his eyes again and look up. Merlin was staring at his forearm that he unknowingly showed him as he pinched his nose. There was a long scratch on it, not really bleeding, but looking quite awful. Arthur had completely forgotten about it, but he must have scratched himself while climbing the cave wall the day before and fighting off the spiders.

"Oh, that's..." Arthur frowned at the wound. "That's nothing, just a scratch." He finished the sentence, but when he looked up at Merlin, he could see that he'd already lost, whatever their argument was about to be.

"You hurt yourself." Merlin went back to him, returning to their previous issue with proximity and personal space. Merlin took Arthur's hand gently and rolled up his sleeve, uncovering the rest of the wound. Arthur was a little taken aback that he let Merlin touch him like that and talk to him like that, but then again, he's never met an angel. "Sit." Merlin commanded after a short examination, and pointed at a large stone family scattered along the river.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm the prince here. I should be giving orders." He told Merlin, who didn't listen to him at all.

"I'll heal you, so stop complaining." He told him instead, surprising Arthur a little. Until then, Merlin seemed... gentle and clumsy, not really aware of much in this world (except his knowledge about heaven). But he must have cared a great deal about Arthur if he was so hell-bent on keeping him safe and healing his every wound.

This realization left Arthur staring at the young angel as they sat opposite each other on two stones that were close to each other and as Merlin kept turning his arm and hand with his light and gentle fingers.

A little smile graced Arthur's lips as he kept looking at Merlin's face that was shrouded in concentration. It felt nice to have someone so genuinely protective of him, even though Arthur would never admit that out loud – he was the prince and was supposed to need no one except a queen one day and an heir and trustful knights. But the way that he felt like he needed Merlin... it felt almost mysteriously charming.

Not that he  _really_  needed Merlin of course, he only met him under twenty-four hours ago and he'd be soon leaving for Heaven anyway.

He stopped looking at Merlin with that thought and focused on what Merlin was doing with his hand. The angel was hovering with his spread fingers over the wound and his eyes were closed. Then his hand began to shine with bright white light and Arthur had to close his eyes as well.

When the glow was gone, so was the scratch. Merlin left no traces of it on his forearm and smiled at his work well done. Arthur didn't take back his hand immediately, in fact, he left it in Merlin's gentle fingers for a few extra seconds, and then he slowly pulled it back, making a fist and then spreading his fingers, admiring the clean forearm.

"Thanks," He smiled at Merlin, who was looking at his chest strangely. Before Arthur could ask though, Merlin looked him in the eyes and had that worried look again. "You have another scratch on your left thigh." He commented, making Arthur puzzled slightly.

"What?" He thought about it quickly and touched his left thigh, soon finding out that it did hurt slightly. How did he miss all these wounds the day before? How come he hadn't visited Gaius- well he did, but with a different matter at hand.

"Allow me to heal-"

"Wait! Arthur stopped him quickly as Merlin's hand started reaching for his thigh without any warning. "How did you know that?" He asked with a frown.

Merlin looked up at him again and pulled his arm back. "Well, uhm... I just looked you over, you know? With... with my special angel sight? It's a useful ability, you see-"

"Wait, does that mean..." Arthur swallowed slightly and willed his blush away. What was it with him and blushing today? "...that you just saw me naked?" He finished his question and feared the answer.

Merlin tilted his head, looking at Arthur's chest again, making Arthur shift slightly on the rock. "No." Merlin answered at last. "Don't worry, I just quickly checked if you were feeling any physical pain."

"But I forgot about the wound." Arthur pointed out.

"Your body could still feel that pain. You just didn't let your mind register it." Merlin explained calmly. Then he glanced at Arthur's thigh again and curled his fingers into a fist. "Now, can I heal that-"

"No." Arthur stood up and cleared his throat. "I don't think that would be... it's just not bothering me, so I'll let it heal the natural way." He came up with an answer and sat down after a while. He was a little sad to see the sad purse of Merlin's lips.

"Alright." Merlin shrugged and pulled up his legs on the stone, wrapping his arms around them. That was when Arthur noticed Merlin had _no shoes_.

"You didn't bother stealing my shoes? You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Arthur shook his head, looking at Merlin's bare feet, his toes in the air and his heels on the stone to support his weight.

"What? No, I'm not an idiot." Merlin defended himself immediately.

"Well, you just don't leave the castle without any shoes,  _Mer_ lin!" Arthur groaned slightly, but couldn't help but chuckle afterwards.

"Why?" Merlin asked with a frown on his face.

"Because that makes you an idiot!" Arthur sighed as he looked at Merlin's feet again. After so much running through the forest after the horses, he didn't seem to have a single scratch. His feet were dirty, but not hurt.

"I don't need  _shoes._ " Merlin rolled his eyes, completely changing his tone as if Arthur was the idiot here. "No mortal blade can kill me or hurt me, remember? That goes for the pointy twigs on the ground too."

"Even mosquitoes?" Arthur asked, but Merlin only shrugged. "Alright." Arthur huffed, rolling his eyes as well. "But it was you with the deer, right?" He asked to change the subject. He was still cross with Merlin that he made him miss the prey. Not to mention that the knights now definitely thought Arthur was incapable of hunting.

"That was me." Merlin nodded. "I'm sorry, but after I saw you kill that rabbit a few weeks ago, I couldn't let you kill something else. That deer was beautiful, and much more happy alive than in your stomach."

That made Arthur pause and narrow his eyes. "How come you know I killed a rabbit?" He asked, seeing that Merlin's cheeks became pink instantly and he looked down at his knees that were under his chin.

He shivered slightly as he answered. "As I told you, there's a pond in the Garden which allows us to see the Earth and humans." Merlin told him, he sounded ashamed a little and he didn't look Arthur in the eyes as he gave his answer.

"That doesn't explain my question." He pointed out, noticing that Merlin rubbed his bare shin (that wouldn't be bare if he wasn't an idiot and took Arthur's high riding boots as well). "I hunted the rabbit with my knights over two months ago."

"I... might have... stumbled upon you in the forest." Merlin sighed with his eyes closed. Arthur had an inkling that Merlin was a little bit uncomfortable with all his questioning, but he wanted the answers. "And I kept watching you ever since." Merlin swallowed and looked up at him. "Sorry." He added.

"What is it about me that you find so fascinating, huh?" Arthur asked, now a little bit pissed that he was being observed without his knowledge for over two months. Merlin must have practically known much more about him than Arthur knew about Merlin. And that was unfair.

"Honestly?" Merlin looked Arthur up and down and smiled. "Everything." He breathed out, making Arthur frown again. "You're human. You're someone completely different than me, you're my father's creation." Merlin smiled. "And honestly, I was curious, I still am. I don't know anything about humans aside from what I've seen here in Camelot through the pond, and I wasn't even supposed to ever walk the Earth if it wasn't for my poor abilities."

Arthur wasn't sure how to answer. He was still pissed that Merlin watched his every move – it completely took the sense of privacy away from him, but on the other hand... Merlin looked genuinely sorry  _and_  genuinely fascinated by everything Arthur did and was.

"And now you're here and you know more than you'd thought you ever would." Arthur finished what Merlin didn't tell him and sighed. When he looked at Merlin, the boy was shivering again. "But it's not fair, you know? I feel like you know everything about me and I don't know anything about you."

"I've already broken almost every rule that I know about, I don't think telling you more would be such a big problem." Merlin grinned. "There are only a few things I can't ever tell you. The day you die, how you die, and how heaven for humans looks like. But that won't be a problem, I've never been there, so..." Merlin chuckled and shrugged.

"You know exactly when I'm going to die?" Arthur asked. It seemed like the frown on his face would never leave, one time it was because he was cross, and now because he was confused.

"Well... I don't." Merlin admitted. "But it's something that angels who have their humans to watch over can find out, I don't know how though."

"And as you said, you don't have... a human yet."

"No," Merlin nodded, rubbing his shins again. "But after I return and learn more, I'll get one. And I want that to be you. You'll be my human."

"I prefer  _you_  being  _my_ angel." Arthur raised his eyebrows and looked down. He never thought there would be someone constantly watching over him. The thought... troubled him a little because it meant that he never had privacy, but on the other hand, it also meant that he'd never be truly alone. But if Merlin became his angel, he'd never talk to him again...

Merlin chuckled at Arthur's response and nodded. "Yeah. But it would mean we'd never talk again." Merlin voiced Arthur's thoughts as if he could read his mind (Arthur really hoped he couldn't) and that made Arthur raise his head. Merlin wasn't looking at him, but his smile was melancholic.

When Arthur realized that Merlin was shivering because he was cold, he sighed and stood up again, taking off his vest.

"What are you doing?" Merlin asked when he noticed the movement.

"You're cold." Arthur pointed out. "You've been shivering this entire time, and if you want to get back without catching cold-"

"I can't actually catch a cold."

"- then you'll accept this and you'll shut up about it." Arthur finished, ignoring Merlin's statement.

He gave him the brown vest and couldn't help but smile when the angel stood up and accepted it. Then he started putting it on backwards, leaving the open side of it on his back.

"You do know that this is not how you put it on, right?" Arthur asked, yet again doubting Merlin's intelligence.

"I know, but I have wings and can't just keep them under your clothes." Merlin answered with a fond roll of his eyes. "See my robe? It's got holes for my wings, and I don't want to ruin your clothes." He added as he hugged his stomach to keep the vest in place and smiled at Arthur.

"Whatever suits you." Arthur shrugged and looked around.

"Sire?" He heard someone from behind him.

"Quick! Make yourself invisible again!" He told Merlin and in a blink of an eye, he couldn't see him. When he turned around, he could already make out Leon in the distance.

"Sire?"

"I'm here!" Arthur answered, not moving. When Leon finally reached him, Arthur asked, "What's the matter?"

"You've been gone for over ten minutes, we were a little bit worried." Leon admitted. When Arthur didn't answer immediately, he added, "Are you alright, sire?"

"Yes, yes, I... I was just thinking." Arthur told him, trying to sound believable.

"Where's your vest, sire?" Leon surprised him with another question. Arthur opened his mouth and then closed it again, looking around like an idiot.

"I... I must have lost it." He said, turning back to Leon. "But that doesn't matter, I'll be back in a few minutes, go back to the knights and tell them that."

"Of course, sire." Leon bowed briefly, staying in front of Arthur for a few extra seconds and then finally turning around and walking away with a confused frown on his face.

Arthur let out a relieved sigh. "I'm such an idiot." He mumbled.

"But you do have shoes." Merlin answered from behind him, startling Arthur a little bit. Arthur rolled his eyes and turned back to him. But before Arthur could answer, Merlin smiled and said, "oh, look!"

When Arthur looked where Merlin was pointing, he saw the deer that he'd been chasing with his knights. It really looked beautiful, nice shades of light and dark brown, with big ears and large black eyes.

But it still made Arthur think about his hunting party gone wrong. "I wish I had my crossbow." He uttered, making Merlin turn to him again.

"Don't kill it." He pleaded. "Please."

As if the deer knew they were talking about it, it stopped eating the plants on the ground and looked up at them, looking unalarmed. Merlin looked at her again when Arthur didn't answer and sat down on the grass around the river. The deer took a few steps closer to them, and when Arthur realized that it wasn't frightened of Merlin or himself, he sat down next to the angel too.

The deer walked over to the shallow river and drank from it, looking up at them again. Then it crossed the river and walked over to Merlin, who held out his hand for the animal to sniff it.

Arthur was in awe. He didn't even dare talk in the presence of this wild animal that seemed totally okay standing next to the man who tried to kill her moments ago.

"See?" Merlin smiled and touched the deer's head gently, smiling when it licked his forearm. "This deer is living with every moment of the life it's been given. Don't take it away from her, not today."

"It seems to like you." Arthur smiled. He was sitting close to Merlin, with his legs crossed on the ground and their thighs touching. Arthur could feel the remaining scratch when he was sitting like this, but frankly, he didn't care one bit. The deer really was beautiful.

"It's not just me." Merlin smiled at him. The deer then stepped closer to Arthur and looked into his eyes. Arthur almost stopped breathing with the intensity of the stare. It was as if the deer was talking to him, and when Arthur carefully raised his hand, the deer sniffed it as well.

"It forgave you." Merlin told him.

The deer then moved its ears and looked around, taking a few steps back and then running through the river and deep into the forest to find its deer family that seemed to be calling.

"That was... unusual." Arthur said, still sitting next to Merlin. When he turned to him, the angel was already looking into his eyes, with a smile on his lips. He seemed to be sparkling and Arthur could see the happiness clear in his eyes, the wish for Arthur to understand the beauty of life.

Arthur wasn't sure how it happened, but Merlin's eyes were so vibrant and the stare was so intense, that he had to look away and his eyes ( _accidentally_ , as he wanted to make himself believe) landed on Merlin's lips. It was only for a second, but he was sure the image of the angel's lips would stay with him for the rest of the day. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"We should- I should go." Arthur cleared his throat and stood up again, holding out his hand for Merlin, who took it and stood up as well.

"Your knights are worried about you." Merlin nodded, repeating what Leon had told them. They've been sitting by the river for way too long already.

"Yes, they are." Arthur said as he looked around and then at Merlin again. "You're going to follow me even if we ride farther into the woods, aren't you?" He asked.

"There's really no way you're making me stop." Merlin smirked at him, making Arthur purse his lips.

"Alright." He sighed with the decision already made in his head. He wasn't going to continue with the hunting trip, once he arrived back to their horses, he was going to tell Leon and others to ride back to Camelot. He just didn't want Merlin to be there always behind his back, watching his every move without him being able to watch Merlin's every move, that just wasn't fair. That was one reason, and the other one was that he wouldn't get to kill anything anyway if Merlin was still there, keeping every animal safe.

Arthur rolled his eyes and patted Merlin's shoulder, turning him towards the way back to his knights. "Make yourself invisible and make sure to stay behind us. I don't want to have to come back here, looking for you."

"You're worried about me?" Merlin asked with a light smirk playing at his lips again.

When Arthur looked at him and saw that, he couldn't deny that there was some sort of  _bond_  forming between them, either friendship or... something else. But all Arthur could do at that moment was roll his eyes and mumble, "shut up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, there was another Supernatural reference *sighs*  
> I hope you liked the chapter! Please consider leaving a comment (it can be short, don't worry) to let me know what are your thoughts so far, thanks! :)


	5. Tough Thinking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! :) I hope you'll like the chapter! To be honest, this past week felt like YEARS, but it was only the first week of school D: I hope you'll like the chapter! Happy reading! :)

Merlin loved the earth forest even more than he loved the Garden of Eden. The Garden was beautiful, but he's never really felt like it was where he belonged, after all. Yes, it was his home, but... something was always missing and Merlin never knew what that was. It felt as if something was wrong – either with the Garden or with himself.

What he realized on his way back to Camelot though, was that for the first time in his life... that feeling was gone. And it lessened as soon as he landed on Earth and then vanished entirely as soon as he spoke to Arthur for the first time and realized he would have to stay in Camelot until other angels found him.

Just the day before, when he thought about his brothers and sisters finding him and bringing him back home, he felt excited. But now, after the trip and a night spent in Arthur's bed, when he thought about leaving this place... he felt a little sad. He wasn't sure why he felt that way, but just to be sure, he hoped to spend more days on Earth to analyze his feelings and figure out an answer.

As he was walking behind Arthur (who rode slowly for Merlin to keep up if he wanted to keep walking instead of flying, which was thoughtful and appreciated), Merlin felt almost too many things at once. He heard the birds and knew they were closer to him than ever before (when he was watching them in heaven, he was so far away). He loved the sunlight that shone through the green leaves and whenever he looked at Arthur, he wondered what it would feel like to ride a horse as well.

But the journey ended and they all found themselves in the courtyard again. Merlin sighed and took off the jacket Arthur had lent him, silently following Arthur back to his chambers, and as soon as the door closed, he made himself visible again, even with his wings. He had nothing to hide anymore.

"Do you make such trips often?" He asked as he handed Arthur the jacket and sat down on the chair by the table.

"About once in two weeks." Arthur answered, putting the jacket on the table and standing in front of Merlin, looking at his wings. He took a deep breath when he saw that Merlin moved his wings a little and then he closed his eyes briefly and continued, "but-"

"Sire?" Someone knocked on the door and opened them immediately after. It was Arthur's manservant, Morris.

Arthur looked at him and then quickly back at Merlin, but thankfully the angel was already invisible and his servant didn't notice anything.

"Do you want me to prepare you a bath like you asked before the trip, sire?" The young boy asked. Merlin kept watching him, his every move. For some reason, his presence and the fact that he interrupted him with Arthur made him dislike the boy, even though he knew that theoretically, he should love everybody because he was an angel. Or at least give everybody a chance.

He narrowed his eyes and then shifted his gaze to Arthur, who seemed a little taken aback. He must have forgotten about the bath, Merlin thought.

"Later." Arthur finally said, glancing at the chair where Merlin was sitting, but his gaze fell right through Merlin's body. "Until then," Arthur quickly looked around the room and Merlin dared to wander into his mind – Arthur didn't seem to want the boy in the room while Merlin was there too, for which Merlin was glad. "Do my laundry, sharpen my sword and polish my shield for tomorrow's training and muck out the stables."

"Of course, sire." The boy nodded and went over to Merlin, putting a tray full of food on the table. That was the first time Merlin noticed the boy was holding it, he must have focused on his face too much. Merlin dismissed the thought and instead looked at the food – there were two chicken drumsticks, an apple and three little sausages with cheese. The tray also had a little goblet and a pitcher of water.

"Merlin?" He heard Arthur whisper, making him turn back to him. His manservant was gone and Merlin was still invisible, so he allowed Arthur to see him again and smiled up at him.

"That should keep him from walking in for at least two hours." Arthur said, sitting down at the table, on the opposite chair of Merlin.

"You mean the chores that you've given him?"

"Yes." Arthur nodded, looking at the food in front of him. According to what Merlin saw in Arthur's eyes, the prince was hungry and happy to see so much food in front of him.

He poured himself a goblet of water. "Normally, my manservant would do this, but thankfully he's gone now." Arthur commented. Merlin didn't really understand why he told him this because the information was quite irrelevant, but he appreciated Arthur talking to him.

"What is this?" He asked as he pointed at the sausages.

Arthur paused for a second, putting the pitcher back on the table and looked at the sausages. "They're sausages, from a pig."

Merlin nodded. "Do you eat animals often?" He asked, eyeing the drumsticks warily. He couldn't even imagine putting a little bit of that poor creature inside his mouth.

"Practically every day." Arthur nodded, making Merlin nod sadly and swallow. "You don't like it?" The prince asked and Merlin had to shake his head.

"You saw that deer today." He told him. "I would never kill it, let alone  _eat_  it." He told him slowly. "And this?" He pointed at the apple. "That's an apple, right? We have those in the Garden, even though we never eat." He admitted, already thinking about the unknown taste in his mouth. He did fall asleep after all, maybe he would need to eat too?

"It is." Arthur nodded again and Merlin watched as he took a bite of the sausage, with a grimace on his face.

"I wonder what it tastes like." Merlin said out loud, without even thinking about it. And as he kept watching the apple, suddenly Arthur took it and placed it in front of him.

"Take a bite, then." The prince told him.

"But I don't eat, I told you." Merlin repeated. "Angels don-"

"You said the same about sleeping and who woke up next to me this morning?" Arthur chuckled. The sound made Merlin feel... warm inside. And with a smile, he accepted the apple.

"Thank you." He said.

"Don't mention it." Arthur nodded and continued eating the poor pig.

Merlin decided not to watch that and instead, he looked down at the shiny red apple in his hand. He brought it closer to his lips and opened his mouth, licking it. Without any warning, Arthur started laughing.

"What?" Merlin asked and he couldn't help but move the corners of his lips up. Arthur's laughter was contagious.

"You won't taste anything like that, you idiot." There was the insult again. But Arthur sounded... happy. "You're basically a baby." He mumbled as he rolled his eyes at Merlin.

Merlin narrowed his eyes again. "I'm much older than you, just for your information." He said. Then he opened his mouth and took a large bite of the apple, managing to keep it all in his mouth as he closed it. Arthur watched him as Merlin started biting and waited for a reaction. As if by some magic, the tasteless apple turned into the sweetest thing that Merlin's ever experienced and he had to close his eyes as he felt it on his tongue. "Mmm," he moaned, surprising himself.

When he looked at Arthur again, the prince was smirking slightly. "Not so tasteless anymore, is it?" He asked.

Merlin couldn't answer, so he shook his head. He tried to savour the taste in his mouth, but eventually, he swallowed and the sweetness was almost gone. Without saying anything, he took another bite and then another, officially eating his first apple in his entire life.

They continued eating in silence and by the time Merlin was finished with the apple, Arthur already managed to eat more than half of his dinner. When even the last sausage was gone, Arthur drank from the goblet and sighed loudly.

"So did you like the apple?" He asked, stretching his arms over his head as he stood up.

"I did, thank you." Merlin stood up as well, looking around the room, not really knowing what to do now.

He's never been bored in his entire life, and that wasn't because he had too much to learn in the Garden about angels and heaven. In fact, he didn't do a lot in the Garden, but ever since he landed on Earth, his sense of time changed. And right now, he didn't know what to do with all that time he had.

So he sat down on Arthur's bed and stretched out his wings just like Arthur did his arms.

"So... how old are you?" Arthur asked when he sat down next to Merlin. Merlin noticed that Arthur's eyes wandered to some work on his table, probably something that he was supposed to sign or look over, but then his eyes settled on Merlin's big white wings and Merlin couldn't help but blush a little bit.

"I don't actually know." Merlin answered honestly. "We don't really measure time like you do. But I know I'm way older than you. And I know that I'm a lot younger than most of the other angels in Heaven."

"So you're basically an old teenager?" Arthur asked.

"I'm not sure," Merlin said and wanted to put his legs on the bed, but then he realized they were still too dirty from the forest. And he was still wearing the breeches.

Without thinking about anything, he stood up and started taking the breeches off. "I'm sorry I kept them on for so long, I forgot." He mumbled as he fought with the button on the front.

"Uhh," Arthur cleared his throat and when Merlin looked at him, he was genuinely concerned that Arthur lost the ability to speak because he just kept staring at Merlin like he had two heads instead of a pair of wings. "It's okay." Arthur mumbled at last and turned around, his face red.

Merlin frowned in confusion, but in the end, he managed to take the trousers off and then he untied the knot on his robe, making it fall down to his knees again. And with a snap of his fingers, his feet were clean.

"Where should I put it?" He asked, referring to the breeches. Arthur was still looking away from him, but then he carefully turned back and stood up.

"Just... here," he took the breeches from Merlin's hands and threw them over one of the chairs. "My manservant will take care of them later."

Merlin nodded and climbed up into the bed. Then he smiled again when Arthur sat next to him and kept glancing up at his wings. Merlin could feel that Arthur was curious, but also a little hesitant.

"You want to touch them, don't you?" Merlin laughed when Arthur just kept not talking and awkwardly glancing up. When he heard Merlin though, he looked into his eyes.

"Is that forbidden too?" He asked.

Merlin thought about it. He knew that he wasn't supposed to talk to Arthur or teach him about Heaven, let alone see his wings and let him see himself. He wasn't even supposed to be on Earth, he was supposed to watch everything from the pond upstairs. Basically, there were only two rules he hasn't broken yet. One, falling in love with a human, and two, letting someone touch his wings. He wasn't sure if that was a rule, but seeing as people weren't even supposed to see them... it probably was.

But Merlin didn't care, it didn't even matter anymore because in only two days, he was sure he'd already broken the record for how many rules can an angel break in such a short time.

"No," Merlin lied. "I mean, it probably is," he added when he realized he lied, which he wasn't supposed to do either, "but I don't think it matters anymore." He smiled at Arthur. "So... do you want to?"

"Uh.. yeah." Arthur admitted.

"Then you can touch them." Merlin smiled and turned his back to Arthur, slowly spreading his wings in front of Arthur's face. He could hear a silent " _oh"._

What he wasn't prepared for though, were Arthur's  _hands_ , even though he thought he was prepared for that. Apparently letting someone touch your wings feels completely different than letting them touch your skin, for example when you shake hands. That's not a big thing, but when Merlin felt Arthur's fingers carefully run through his feathers, it was  _huge._

"That's- uh..." Merlin stuttered as he closed his eyes briefly. "That's weird."

"Did I do something wrong?" Arthur asked, quickly putting his hands away.

"No, no, please continue." Merlin quickly assured him that it was alright. "I just... I've never... felt this before." He tried to explain.

Arthur was silent and for a second Merlin was scared that Arthur would stop. But then his gentle fingers returned and Merlin had to close his eyes again.

He didn't know what changed. He honestly didn't. One day he was in Heaven, talking to William, and the next he was sitting on the prince's bed, letting him caress his wings and encouraging him to continue.

Maybe  _he_ changed.

Maybe being here on Earth, or better –  _meeting_  Arthur – has changed him. From the first time he saw his face in the pond in the Garden, there was this... feeling inside of him that almost completely rewrote the feeling of not belonging up there. And up until now, Merlin wasn't sure what it was. But the feeling kept growing whenever he looked at Arthur or heard his voice or saw his smile. He felt...  _warm._ He felt...  _happy._

And then it occurred to him. As he let Arthur's hands wander all over his white wings, he finally understood what this was all about.

He must have broken the last remaining rule of Heaven. It must have happened somewhere along the way.

_He must have fallen in love with Arthur Pendragon._

Merlin jerked his head as he realized that, causing his wings to move away. Arthur's hands disappeared and Merlin turned back to him, feeling very hot in the face. He must have been blushing again.

"They're... very fluffy." Arthur smiled.

"Thanks." Merlin told him, a little breathless.

Then someone knocked on the door again and for the first time in his entire life, Merlin cursed.

"Come in." Arthur called when Merlin was invisible again.

And the angel didn't even have to turn around to know exactly who was interrupting them this time. It must have been the manservant again. And when he heard the boy's voice, he was sure that his evening with Arthur was ruined completely.

"I've finished sire." The boy informed him. Merlin just kept staring at Arthur's face, trying to figure out  _when exactly_  did his fascination and admiration turn into  _love_. "Do you want me to prepare you the bath now?"

Merlin raised his head at the word  _bath_  and looked at the boy. Then he looked at Arthur's face and his cheeks turned even redder.

"Alright." Arthur answered as he looked at himself. And with that, Merlin was sure he was  _lost_.

The manservant nodded and left the room again, starting the preparation of the bath that Arthur seemingly desired. Aka the moment Merlin would most probably see Arthur nake-

 _No, he would not._  Merlin forced himself to believe. He was an angel. He wasn't supposed to be involved in any of this, and he wasn't going to spy on Arthur or stare at him the entire time. He was just... going to hide in-

"You can go to the antechambers while I have my bath." Arthur said out loud into the room. The manservant was gone again and Merlin was still invisible.

"Okay," he replied without letting Arthur see him – he was still so red in the face that he just couldn't let Arthur see that.

He left the bed and stood in front of Arthur for a while, looking at him and trying to yet again understand his feelings a little better. The way he was staring at his face would probably be embarrassing if he wasn't invisible. After a while he gave up and went into the antechambers, closing the door behind himself.

He heard Arthur sigh in his main chamber and then the door opened again and the manservant started filling up the wooden bathtub that magically appeared in the room. Merlin wondered where they kept it. And if he would need to take a bath too if he spent too much time on Earth and maybe lost his powers. After all, he already needed sleep and eating seemed pleasant too.

After a while of listening to the servant pour buckets of water into the tub again and again, Merlin put his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

How could he have let this happen? How did it even happen in the first place? When did he begin to...  _feel_  this way? Was it when he first saw Arthur's face in the pond? Obviously, that was where it started, where his  _obsession_  started. And then when he decided to help Arthur and ended up in his  _bed_ , the feelings that had been trapped inside him only blossomed.

Merlin wondered if this was  _normal_  or if he was the first angel to fall in love with a human. The rule must have existed for a reason after all... but now that he knew what he felt and why he kept looking at Arthur (and the way the sun shone through his almost golden hair in the forest), he became even more reluctant to leave Earth. He swallowed and opened his eyes again, feeling anxious.

What if the angels found him right now and he would never get to talk to Arthur again? What if they never found him and he'd have to stay here (that thought made him smile), although he wasn't sure how long angels could stay on Earth. Only archangels were allowed to leave Heaven and they never stayed long. But his sleeping and eating already suggested that something was happening, something that couldn't have been good.

And... what if the angels were watching him  _right now?_  What if they decided he should stay on Earth for his sins and all those broken rules... Merlin shook his head and took a calming breath. They would come back to him.

They would come and he'd have to tell them he decided to stay. Well, if Arthur wanted him to. Because the idea of protecting Arthur for the rest of his life from Heaven... didn't sound as appealing as it used to. It meant he'd never be able to speak to him again.

As he looked at the closed door and heard Arthur already stepping inside the tub, he had to smile. He hoped Arthur wanted him to stay.

Because what good did the love do to him if it was unrequited?

xoXÖXox

Honestly, at this point, Arthur didn't even know what he was doing. He was sitting in his bath tub full of bubbles from the soup his manservant used, and he was  _naked_ , with an actual angel in the next room.

The thing is, he thought that Merlin and him were getting closer. When he was leaving the forest, he was thinking about the angel again and he was sure that after the deer and cancelled hunting trip, they were developing a simple friendship. Something that shouldn't have happened because Merlin was leaving – no matter  _when_  that would happen.

But the more he talked to him, the easier it got. And he started loving their conversations. But one glance at Merlin's wings (when they weren't invisible) and he couldn't help but think that it was all going to end soon. Merlin was leaving. He didn't even know whether Merlin was still in his antechambers... what if his friends from Heaven already found him and took him away?

Arthur frowned as he thought about that.

How long has Merlin been on Earth? Barely a  _day_. And yet thinking about him leaving already troubled Arthur so much that he had to stop thinking about it. It felt like some kind of a spell. As if Merlin ended up on Earth on purpose, only to enchant him with his smile and sparkling blue eyes and  _lips_  and  _wings_  and-

Arthur closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. His thoughts were getting out of hand. But back to the point. He felt like Merlin's spell was so strong that there was simply no hope of ever getting out. Not that he wanted to of course. No matter how weird being in the presence of Merlin the day before and that morning was, now he found himself wishing to spend more time with him instead.

Which was probably why he kept glancing at the antechamber door so often, trying to imagine what Merlin was doing there and what he was thinking about or if he was feeling the same. Well that was the question of the day, wasn't it? How exactly did Arthur feel?

He closed his eyes for that and let his manservant wash his back with a sponge. The instant the warm hands of his manservant touched his skin, Arthur couldn't help but imagine they were Merlin's. But that thought made him open his eyes pretty quickly, panic spreading through his body. Why was he thinking that?

He swallowed when he thought about the answer. Just under an hour ago, his fingers were in between Merlin's feathers, running up and down and to the sides all over his wings. He wasn't lying when he said they were fluffy. They were the fluffiest thing he'd ever touched.

It was at that moment when he realized what was probably happening and he couldn't stop thinking about it since. He wouldn't normally touch anyone like that, and definitely not an angel. And yet there Merlin was, sitting in front of him and spreading his wings in front of Arthur's face.

He sighed again as he was thinking about this. There was something about Merlin... something he couldn't quite put his finger on. Something foreign and innocent and exciting at the same time. And when he thought about that, he found himself smiling. Which was why he knew that he was right about what was happening. There was one word for it.

_Love_

At first, it made Arthur panic again. It wiped the smile off of his face in a second and he sat upright in the tub, almost scaring his manservant.

"Is everything alright, sire?" The young boy asked, taking his hands away. It made Arthur's shoulders feel cold and yet again, he looked at the closed door to his antechambers.

"No, everything's fine, Morris." Arthur cleared his throat. Then he blinked and shook his head and sat straight again. "That will be enough, fetch the towel." He commanded and waited for Morris to return.

When he did, Arthur stood up and tied the towel around his hips and stepped out of the tub. "You can take care of the bath tomorrow, for the rest of the day you're dismissed." He told his manservant.

"Sire," Morris bowed and headed for the doors.

When Morris was finally gone, Arthur looked at the door to the antechambers again – it was  _open._  His eyes widened and he swallowed, quickly going behind the changing screen.

How long has it been open? Has Merlin seen him stepping out of the tub? Has he opened the door only after Morris left his chambers? He couldn't stop the thoughts as they were racing in his mind and he had to close his eyes.

He could only focus on one thing right now. And that was – how the hell did he manage to fall in love with an  _angel_? Someone he met only the day before? Was that even possible to fall in love so fast?

"Arthur?" He heard Merlin. But Arthur couldn't face him right now, he couldn't do anything until he knew what to do, and right now all that he felt was  _chaos._

"I'm here." Arthur said, quickly drying himself with the towel and finding new clothes that Morris had prepared for him and thrown over the changing screen. "I'm getting dressed, so... stay where you are, please."

Merlin laughed at that. "Don't worry." He answered and it made Arthur think – did he already see him naked after he stepped out of the tub or was he just overthinking everything? Arthur dismissed the thought with a sigh.

"I'm sorry," he said as he left the privacy of his changing screen and stepped inside his chambers. Merlin was sitting on his bed, with his wings high above his shoulders and a little smile on his face.

Arthur couldn't help but gasp silently. Just looking at those wings made him nervous.

"Why are you apologizing?" Merlin asked, confusing Arthur a little until he remembered what he wanted to say.

He looked down for a second and then sighed again. "I need to take care of something, but I'll be right back, I promise."

"Where are you going?" Merlin asked with a sad frown on his face. It made Arthur want to stay so badly that he had to turn away so he wouldn't change his mind.

"To see how Morgana's doing." He quickly made up a lie, hoping Merlin wouldn't try to read his thoughts. "She's been through a lot with the poison and I haven't seen her all day, so-"

"I understand." Merlin smiled and Arthur dared to glance at him. "Go to see if she's alright. I'll wait here for you." He smiled again, making Arthur smile in return.

"Thanks."

Then Arthur quickly went to the door and left his chambers, walking away. There was no one in the halls, so he let out a big sigh and leaned against the cold wall, closing his eyes.

How could he have let this happen? How could he have fallen in love so quickly? He'd never fallen in love before. He's never even properly thought about it, only when his father brought up the conversation over their family dinner. He always wanted him to marry some princess for the sake of a friendship with another kingdom. But Arthur didn't find that idea appealing, he's always wanted to marry for  _love._

And here it was. Absolutely unexpected, without any warning whatsoever. It was just  _there_  and it was up to him what to do about it. And up to Merlin of course, which arose another question – he was an angel, so could he feel love? Did he feel the same? Could it happen so fast for both of them? Didn't he say it was forbidden to fall in love with a human?

When Arthur heard footsteps, he quickly started walking again, trying to act as if nothing was bothering him and he was simply walking through the castle, wasting time. Thank god his father didn't need him for any council meetings, but to be honest... maybe it would help clear his mind.

As he continued walking, he noticed that the footsteps he heard belonged to a servant girl who was walking towards him. It was Gwen, lady Morgana's maid.

"My lord," she bowed quickly when she passed him, but Arthur stopped her with his hand on her forearm.

"How is she?" He asked. It might have been a lie that he was leaving his chambers with the intention of paying a visit to his sister, but he still cared about her. And he might even visit her after all, to see how she was doing.

"Lady Morgana is doing much better," she smiled up at him as he let go of her forearm. She was carrying a basket full of laundry, mostly Morgana's dresses as Arthur noticed. "She's no longer bedridden and she wanted to go into Lower Town today, but Gaius and the king both agree she should stay in her chambers for at least another few days."

Arthur smiled slightly. "That's good to hear. That she's doing well." He told her. "Thank you."

Gwen bowed again and smiled at him, leaving him alone again in the empty cold hall of Camelot.

Arthur decided to go see Morgana after all. She might want a distraction from her little prison which her chambers have become for her. And he needed a distraction from his feelings because if Merlin was leaving soon, he couldn't act on them. He couldn't do anything and knowing that while being in the same room with him was agonizing.

He knocked and didn't wait for a response when he opened the door.

"Gwen?" He heard Morgana ask from the other side of the room.

"It's me." He smiled as he closed the door again and went farther inside the room.

"Arthur?" He heard Morgana's reply as she emerged from behind the corner. She looked a little surprised, but as soon as she saw him, she smirked and put her hands on her hips. "So you didn't come this morning at all, but now that it's evening you remembered you've got a sister who had been poisoned?"

Arthur couldn't help but smile at that. "I'm sorry, I should have come sooner." He told her. She looked much better, her skin wasn't as pale as before and she was wearing her blue silk dress, but her eyes still looked a little tired.

"Gwen told me you were on a hunting trip." Morgana smirked before he could say anything else. "Still think that killing animals is the best way to relax?"

"We didn't manage to kill anything today." Arthur rolled his eyes. When she sat down on her bed and gestured for him to sit next to her, he didn't hesitate.

"Well, I'm glad for that." Morgana smiled.

"Are you feeling better? I met your maid on my way here, she said you were." Arthur asked, getting back to the point of his visit.

Morgana smiled at that again, but then her smile disappeared. "I  _am_  feeling better, but the poison... I don't know what it was. Gaius said he doesn't know either, but it must have been really strong."

"You almost died," Arthur frowned.

"I didn't though." She smiled again. "Thanks to you."

"You already thanked me." Arthur smirked.

"I know, I'm not thanking you again." She chuckled slightly. "And what's troubling you?" She gave him another question. It was unexpected to be honest. Arthur frowned at first, but when he saw how Morgana was looking at him... it was as if she saw right through him. They grew up together after all, but he was sure he did a great job at hiding how conflicted he felt.

"It's nothing I should bother you with." He admitted at last, but Morgana only narrowed her eyes.

"Arthur, I know you." She said. Her voice was quieter and Arthur knew that that meant she was serious. "If you're not willing to tell me, then I'm going to have to find out myself and that means that I'll be in your chambers while you're not there and we both know you don't like that."

"You can't leave your own chambers for at least a week." He reminded her.

"Don't try to change the subject." She pursed her lips. "Now, tell me. What's the matter?"

Arthur sighed and closed his eyes briefly. He didn't look her in the eyes when he opened them again.

"Is it that serious?" She asked with a worried frown.

"I don't know, maybe." He admitted. He considered telling her everything. But then he remembered that he'd promised Merlin he wouldn't tell about him to anyone. He couldn't tell Morgana that he had an actual angel in his chambers, waiting for him. But he had to tell her at least something because if Merlin was still in Camelot the next few days and Morgana went searching through his chambers... well, that wouldn't end up well.

"What happened?" She asked again when he wasn't answering.

"First of all, I would appreciate if you told my father none of this." He looked at her and after she nodded, he finally gathered the courage to tell her about his problems. He didn't normally do that, he didn't talk to  _anyone_  about his  _feelings_ , but he needed some advice. "I... met someone."

"Oh my god, Arthur!" Morgana smiled, but when Arthur didn't look like he wanted to be smiling, she frowned at him. "She's a servant, isn't she? I can see now why you don't want Uther to know."

"No, it's... well..." Arthur sighed. This  _sharing feelings_  thing was harder than he thought it would be. "He's not exactly the same class as we are, that's true." When Arthur thought about it, it was probably the other way around. Arthur was like a peasant compared to Merlin, he was a mere human, a mortal compared to an  _angel_.

"He?" Morgana asked. He didn't realize he didn't say  _she_  and when Morgana pointed that out, he could feel the panic inside of him again. And he had an inkling that she could see that too. "Hey, that's okay." She assured him.

He didn't want to answer that, so he continued with the issue. "The point is... he's leaving soon. And I don't even know if he feels the same way. I don't know what to do, Morgana. If he leaves tomorrow and I'll have done nothing, I might regret it for the rest of my life, but what if he doesn't feel the same way? What if-"

"It's always better to at least try something, you know?" She interrupted him. "Don't stress about  _what if's_  and tell him, just to be sure. What if he feels the same way, but thinks that  _you_  don't?"

"I haven't thought about that..." Arthur frowned. It was only now that he realized Morgana's hand was on his shoulder. He was lucky to have her as a sister.

"See? You don't think about many things." She said with a smile on her face, but it only made Arthur roll his eyes.

"Thanks." He stood up again and smiled down at her.

"You're welcome." She nodded. "And feel free to come here again if you need to talk-"

"I won't." Arthur turned around, rolling his eyes again. "Don't tell anyone I was here."

"You're hopeless," Morgana sighed as she stood up. Arthur knew she didn't take what he said seriously, he was just... not comfortable with talking so much about his own feelings. It was weird. He was a  _warrior._  A knight.

"Thanks." He sighed as he was leaving.

"Arthur?" He heard her call again as he was opening the door. He turned to look at her and she smiled, "I hope he feels the same way."

"Thanks." Arthur smiled, this time meaning it.

When he was leaving her chambers, he felt better. Not relieved, he knew the problem with his heart was still there and that he would need to talk to Merlin about it, especially if falling in love with him meant breaking the rules, but for now he only wished to see his face again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Maybe you feel like they realized they were in love a little bit too soon, they've only known each other for barely a day after all, and I agree, but this was originally written as a oneshot (I so failed in that), and if I'd realized this would be so long, I would have planned out each chapter differently and made them longer with more plot and I'd give them more time, but as I said, this was written as a oneshot and when I realized I'd need to divide it into chapters, it was simply too late :/ I had to rewrite this entire chapter already (originally, they were supposed to have their first kiss here, while Arthur was still sitting in the bath... but I felt like that might quickly escalate into something I didn't really want to write, so I backed out :P ). I hope you still like it! There are only two more chapters to post, so get ready for that! :)
> 
> Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think, thanks! :)


	6. Rule Number One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter isn't very long, but it's very Merthur *winks* I hope you'll like that!

In the meantime, Merlin was lying in Arthur's bed and thinking. About a lot of things. About how much he wanted to stay on Earth and learn from Arthur how to be human and how much he wanted Arthur to feel the same way. Now that he knew that it was  _love_  that he felt, he couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to be loved back...

He knew it was breaking rules again. And he knew he shouldn't be doing that and he wouldn't, he really wouldn't... but first, he needed to find out whether the prince actually felt the same or didn't. He didn't want to read his mind though, this was too personal. But if Arthur felt the same way, he would need to find a way to stay here, to stay on Earth and continue his life as a fallen angel. And if Arthur didn't feel the same... well, then Merlin would leave him and return to Heaven, where he belonged. Even if it didn't feel that way. And he'd spend the rest of his life watching over Arthur from the Garden, having his heart broken with every moment spent there and not with the prince.

Merlin let out a huge sigh and closed his eyes as he rolled on the other side of the bed. On the side that Arthur slept on the previous night. He didn't know if he would spend another night on Earth, in this room, in this  _bed_... but he really wished he could.

He could even smell Arthur's scent, it was all over his pillow.

And then the door opened and Merlin instantly made himself invisible.

"Merlin?" It's me." He heard Arthur say. So he quickly moved to  _his_ side of bed and let Arthur see him. He smiled when Arthur's eyes landed on him.

"Hello," he greeted him. But Arthur wasn't smiling and he looked nervous.

"Is there something wrong?" Merlin asked and watched as Arthur went closer to him.

"No," Arthur said and Merlin already knew it was a lie, but he let him continue anyway. "I just wanted to ask you something, but..." Arthur's eyes wandered around the room until they settled on the table. "I have a lot of work, see? All those papers." He pointed at the stack of papers on the table and smiled awkwardly, going towards them. He sat down on the chair and took a quill, looking over them.

It was quite obvious that Arthur was avoiding something.

"We can still talk while you work. Or we can talk and then you can work." Merlin suggested, staying on Arthur's bed and stretching his wings. Now that he knew what flying felt like (since he didn't do that often in Heaven), he missed it and wished he could use his wings again, but the canopy was too low and he didn't want to destroy Arthur's bed, so he could only move them around a bit. When he looked back at Arthur, he noticed the prince was staring at his wings again.

"Sure," Arthur nodded, blushing slightly when he saw Merlin was looking at him. Then he cleared his throat. "I was wondering... when do you think the angels will find you?" He asked finally.

Merlin's smile disappeared instantly. Did Arthur not want him around?

"I don't know." Merlin shrugged. "I have no idea if they even find me or if they've already found me and decided I wasn't worth saving."

"You are worth saving, Merlin." Arthur smiled at him as soon as he heard Merlin had doubts. That made Merlin smile a little. When he nodded, Arthur continued, "I was just wondering if we could ever talk again after you went back home."

That made Merlin look at him again with hope in his eyes, but then he shrugged. "I hope that we can, but... to be honest, I don't like the idea of coming back home." He admitted. That was the first time that he voiced his thoughts and it made him pause. Did he just make a mistake by telling Arthur? Or should he confide in him more? Arthur was a good man, he knew that from watching him in the pond for so long.

Arthur frowned at him, fiddling with the quill between his fingers and obviously wondering what made Merlins say that. "Why?" He asked as Merlin expected. "Are there some angels you don't like or something like that?"

"Not really," Merlin looked down and took a deep breath. He missed Will, that was true, but angels weren't the problem. "It's the opposite situation actually. In Heaven, there'd be someone missing." He said and looked up at Arthur. Before he could finish his thought with saying  _you_ though, he cleared his throat and looked down again. He could save that conversation for later. When he looked up again, he managed a weak smile. "But you should work, don't leave it for tomorrow."

Arthur looked down at his papers and the quill in his hand as if he had forgotten about them. Then he nodded and started working, reading through them and signing what was needed.

Merlin wondered if he did that often. And he wondered what it was that stopped him when he was seconds away from confessing what he really felt. But considering the fact that Will or other angels probably haven't found him yet... he'll have more time tomorrow to continue that conversation.

So he let Arthur work in silence.

xoXÖXox

In the end, Merlin helped Arthur with some of the papers (he was mostly just reading them and shaking his head at how detailed problems some citizens seemed to have) and Arthur was signing everything he thought he should. No one disrupted them and they kept working for a few hours at least, judging by the quickly setting sun that Merlin saw from the window. (He kept pacing through the entire chambers while reading the papers.) That was because he was getting a little bit bored, Arthur on the other hand didn't have a choice but finish his work. As a prince he had a lot of responsibilities. He couldn't just throw them out the window because he had a  _beautiful_  angel in his chambers, no matter how tempting the opportunity might have been.

Arthur glanced at the pile of papers that he still had to go through and let out a sigh. For a second he tried to imagine he didn't have to read all of them and that he could just go to sleep... but that thought quickly disappeared. Maybe he could wake up early and do the rest in the morning though?

"They're so beautiful." He heard Merlin say from behind him. When he turned around in his chair to see him, Merlin was standing beside the window, looking out at the stars. He didn't dare open the window, but he still had a slight smile on his face. It made Arthur's heart melt.

"The stars?" He asked and Merlin nodded in response.

Arthur stood up from the table and walked over to Merlin, who was still holding a paper in his hand. He didn't turn to Arthur as he kept watching the two or three stars he could see through the castle window.

"Yes." He answered. "I've never seen them like this, from the Earth. Well, I did on the night I found you, but I couldn't really enjoy them then, I was worried and lost."

Merlin turned to Arthur and looked into his eyes, his smile turning into a grin.

"I can't remember the last time I admired them." Arthur admitted, looking at Merlin. Their eyes locked and he could  _swear_  that Merlin's eyes wandered down to his lips, even if for just a fraction of a second.

Then the angel turned away again and looked out of the window. "I wish I could see more." He whispered. Then he turned back to Arthur so quickly that he almost jumped in surprise. "Let's go outside!" Merlin smiled at him with a plea in his eyes.

Arthur frowned slightly and thought about the papers. "I can't," was his first response. "You'd need to be invisible, and I shouldn't leave the chambers at this hour." He added because it was indeed almost midnight.

"Please," Merlin stepped a tiny bit closer, looking so deep into his eyes that Arthur was almost sure he could see into his soul too. Merlin's eyes were as if sparkling – again, and his wings were close to his shoulders and his hair fell across his forehead so perfectly and his red lips were parted in such a way that it almost made Arthur lose his mind-

"Yes." He decided.

One word from Merlin. That was all it took and he was lost. But to be honest, he could use a break from the work and he knew Merlin could too. "Alright." He added.

"Thank you!" Merlin smiled and unexpectedly threw his arms around Arthur, squeezing. The moment was gone before Arthur could even register it though and Merlin was already staring out of the window again. "Come on, then!" He smiled as he took Arthur's hand –  _his hand! -_ and dragged him out of his chambers, making himself invisible on the way so it looked like Arthur was strangely following his outstretched hand in the air.

It took a moment for Arthur to realize what was happening. They were (well,  _he_ was, as Merlin was invisible) already running down the stairs, when suddenly Arthur seemed to come back to his mind and he stopped him.

"Wait," he whispered. There were no guards around, but he couldn't see Merlin and wasn't sure where he was. He knew he stopped though and was probably watching him right now. "We can't leave the castle." He could almost see Merlin's sad eyes. "We'll go to one of the towers instead." He added. It didn't occur to him until that very moment, but now when he thought about it, it wasn't a bad idea. There wouldn't be anyone guarding it – well, there would, but probably not the highest tower that wasn't often used for guards to look out for enemies. There wasn't a reason to expect any attack anyway.

"I'll lead you." Arthur added. He could feel Merlin's fingers in his palm, and he squeezed, gently leading him up the stairs again.

It took a couple of halls and staircases – both straight and spiral – to get to their destination. Arthur opened the door that led right into the tower and then closed it when he was sure Merlin was there with him.

"Thank you," he heard Merlins say as he turned to him and found him standing in front of him. He was visible again, even his wings. And his eyes... they were full of stars as the angel looked up. So many more of them have become visible in the sky since the moment they left Arthur's chambers!

"No problem." Arthur smiled. The soft grass beneath their feet made him remember the times his maid took him to this very tower after he would spend days pleading her. He used to come there alone when he was older, but then... he wasn't sure what happened. When he stopped. He guessed he just grew up... had more responsibilities on his shoulders and forgot about the wonders of nature.

"I like watching the stars from Heaven." Merlin said as he grabbed Arthur's wrist and led him closer to the wall, pointing at the stars. It made Arthur realize that at some point, he must have let go of his hand. Merlin's fingers weren't in his palm anymore, now they were around his wrist. And Merlin? He seemed even happier than when they were watching the deer together by the river.

"What do they look like from there?" He asked, not really realizing it but putting his other hand over Merlin's fingers on his wrist anyway. He felt as Merlin tensed a little bit, but the tension was soon gone and his wings seemed to... relax.

"They're a little bit different and a little bit the same." Merlin laughed when he looked back at Arthur. "It's hard to explain." He smiled and looked up again. "The stars... they're all around us. In Heaven. But it doesn't feel the same, here... it's better. It feels more...  _true._ "

"That sounds nice." Arthur nodded, but he knew they were both aware that he didn't really understand. That was fine though. They were both here, in the highest tower of Camelot, watching stars together.

"That one is Vilia." Arthur whispered.

"Which one?" Merlin asked.

Arthur took Merlin hand from his wrist and guided it across the sky until they were both pointing at one of the brighter stars. Then their arms dropped back. "I used to give them names when I was young." Arthur added. It was all coming back to him now. The memories and the feeling of peace when he could be here alone. Never for long though, someone always noticed he wasn't in bed.

"That's cute," Merlin chuckled.

Arthur rolled his eyes and pursed his lips, but he was smiling anyway. "It was stupid." He said.

That made Merlin turn to him. They were already standing too close to each other, but now when Merlin was facing him, Arthur had to swallow to focus on staying in control.

"No, it's not." Merlin protested as he smiled again. "I like it." He looked into Arthur's eyes and raised his hand, gingerly taking hold of Arthur's loose red tunic.

Arthur was way too aware of that. "Do you give them names too?" He asked. Suddenly it was almost too hard to breathe. Merlin was staring into his eyes and smiling and oh god his eyes were so impossibly blue. It had to have something to do with him being an angel.

"No," Merlin laughed softly. "But I can start." He added. "How's the name  _Arthur_  sound to you?"

That took Arthur by surprise a bit. "You'd name a star after me?" He asked. He saw and  _heard_  Merlin swallow. This time he was sure Merlin's eyes glanced at Arthur's lips and he couldn't help but lick them. He was losing control, and  _fast_.

"I'd name them all after you if I could." Merlin admitted. His voice sounded a little bit quieter and he looked into Arthur's eyes. After Merlin swallowed again and tightened his hold on Arthur's tunic, he added, "You're the most beautiful person that I've ever seen."

Arthur gasped slightly and instantly turned red when he realized that. He's already lost control. Merlin was an impossible person, the most beautiful angel in Heaven and he didn't care that he hasn't seen them all. He was more breathtaking than any stars that ever existed.

Merlin was suddenly grinning and it took Arthur a while to realize he'd said that out loud. But he didn't care. Morgana told him that he should take the chance and talk to Merlin about his feelings. He wasn't brave enough to do that earlier, but now he didn't even have to because Merlin's intentions were clear.

The angel laughed and found Arthur's other hand, bringing it close to his heart. Then he looked at Arthur's lips again and into Arthur's eyes and Arthur shivered. Their eyes locked and in the next second, they were both already leaning in.

"What about the rule?" Arthur whispered just a second before their lips would meet. "You said an angel couldn't fall in love with a human."

Merlin considered that for a second and then raised his eyebrows as if in invitation. "Some rules are worth breaking, don't you think?"

Arthur didn't even have time to nod as he smiled and finally leaned closer, their lips meeting and their hands wrapping around their necks and shoulders. Merlin's lips felt warm and soft and Arthur's eyes were closed the second they touched. His mind went completely blank and his control went out the window as he felt Merlin's wings touch his shoulders. An angelic hug was nice, but an angelic  _kiss_  was even better. Merlin kissed with everything he had in his power and mind, his love pouring into Arthur like the warmth that was spreading through his entire body.

He was breathless when they finally parted and his eyes were still closed as he grinned. When he opened them, Merlin was so close that he wondered if this was a dream. But then he felt Merlin's feathers under his fingers and knew that this was the most real thing that's ever happened to him.

That was until the next moment.

Merlin tensed and swallowed, his wings immediately unwrapping from around Arthur and his face looking both sad and terrified. Arthur could almost feel his heart stop as he realized what was happening. He whirled around and-

Yes. In front of him stood another angel.

And he didn't look very happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to end it with this cliffhanger! I hope you enjoyed the chapter because next week I'm gonna post the last one, where everything is finally resolved :)


	7. The Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter is here! Prepare for a lot of Merthur, a saddening realization, hard decisions, one last supernatural reference, and a happy ending! I hope you'll like it! :D

The kiss, the slow movement of Arthur's lips against his, was something that Merlin wanted to feel forever. It felt better than wandering through the Garden of Eden, it felt even better than flying. He's never felt this way. And he never thought he could. But the moment their lips touched... he was  _lost._

He's fallen in every way imaginable.

But when they pulled away, hot breaths in between them and their eyes still closed, there was something wrong – Merlin could feel it. He frowned and stepped away, his wings moving away from Arthur's back – he didn't even know that they'd wrapped around the prince during the kiss – and then he saw him.

Will.

He was just standing there, with his arms folded on his chest and his wings bigger than ever. He looked intimidating even though Merlin knew he'd never do anything to hurt him. Will was his best friend after all. But if he was there on Heaven's orders...

"Merlin?" William asked. He didn't sound very happy. Arthur turned around and saw the angel, moving closer to Merlin and instinctively taking his hand – if in protection or reassurance, Merlin wasn't sure, but Will's eyes caught the movement and his frown deepened. He clearly didn't approve.

"I can explain," Merlin hurriedly stepped forward, tightening his hold on Arthur's hand. His eyes were wide and his heart was beating a little bit faster. He didn't want to lose something that he'd just discovered. He didn't want to leave Arthur now that he knew he felt the same.

"You've broken so many rules, Merlin," Will ignored him. "You've walked the Earth-"

"That was an accident-"

"-you've let a human see you, you've talked to him and..."

"We've fallen in love," Arthur defended Merlin and took a step forward as well.

"Also he's touched my wings, but I don't know if there's a rule about that," Merlin added with a hesitant smile.

Will didn't seem to be in a mood for jokes. He was much older than Merlin, he was protective and liked to teach Merlin things he didn't know and now he found out that his best friend has broken almost every rule he himself had taught him.

"I'm sorry," Merlin added.

"Explain then," Will asked him. "I've been looking for you all over Heaven and it was only now that I tried to use the pond. But I didn't believe you'd be here, until I got here and saw you being...  _intimate_  with a  _mortal._ "

Merlin's smile disappeared. He didn't want to worry Will, but it was too late for that. He guessed Will must have got a permission of some kind to even leave Heaven and get to Earth, and all for Merlin's stupid crush and his stupid idea to try and help Arthur. To be honest he was a bit surprised that Will got a permission to leave. That was very unusual, angels weren't supposed to be here at all.

"I... Remember how we talked about Arthur? In the Garden?" he asked, knowing that Arthur looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "And I asked how could I become his angel?"

Will nodded. "The prince of Camelot. Arthur Pendragon," he glanced at Arthur, for the first time acknowledging him in the conversation. "I could have expected this, you seemed too eager to help him."

Merlin's cheeks turned pink at that.

"I was on my way to the pond," he began with the story that got him into this mess. "And I thought I would be alone, but there were other angels, Shildre and others, who were watching lady Morgana."

"She'd been poisoned," Will said. Merlin nodded – Will knew about that then.

"And one of them said that Arthur rode out to find a cure and that it was a dangerous journey," Merlin continued, but before he could say another word, Will bowed his head and chuckled almost soundlessly.

"And you wanted to help him," he finished for Merlin, "because you wanted to be his angel and if he'd died, you wouldn't have had a chance."

"Well, I'm not good at using my powers, you know that better than anyone," Merlin nodded. He looked at Arthur and saw the love in his eyes, giving him the courage to continue. "And I messed up, and ended up here on Earth."

"I've never seen that happen," Will let his arms drop from his chest, and sighed. "A trip from Heaven to here," he looked around them, "requires a lot of knowledge and energy." He glanced at their joined hands. "You have much more talent than you think, Merlin," he smiled briefly. "And when you combined that with strong emotion, I guess it must have taken you straight to the source of your worries," he looked at Arthur. "To the prince."

Merlin swallowed again and nodded. "I know I shouldn't have tried, but I couldn't help it."

"I know." Will nodded. "But the outcome is the same. You'll be punished after you return to Heaven-"

"You can't-"

"-which is why," Will ignored Arthur's protests and raised his hand, "I'm not here officially," he finished. Merlin's eyes filled with hope. "I'm breaking a rule just by being here."

"You don't have a permission?" Merlin asked, his hope turning into a worry for his best friend.

"No," Will laughed shortly. But he still didn't seem relieved. "But I'm here anyway. I'm taking you back before anyone else notices we're both missing and that way you won't get punished and neither will I. And if someone finds out, we'll tell them it was an accident." Merlin's hope was leaving him with every word that left Will's mouth. "And then you can become the prince's angel, just like you wanted."

Merlin was silent for a moment. He looked at Arthur and saw exactly what Arthur was thinking. It was written all over his face:  _Please don't leave me._  And he was right. Merlin couldn't leave Earth. He's never felt at home in Heaven and for the first time, now, he felt like he truly belonged somewhere, and  _with_ someone.

"No." Merlin simply said, looking down at his feet. Then he looked up at Will with an apology in his eyes.

"What do you mean  _no_?" Will frowned at him.

"I'm sorry, I ca- I can't leave. I just can't," Merlin tried to explain and turned to Arthur, taking his both hands and squeezing. "I wouldn't be able to talk to you from Heaven," He told him. "Communication between angels and humans is just... forbidden. And I love talking to you, I really do." He smiled slightly.

"I love talking to you too." Arthur smiled back at him. "And I don't want you to leave."

"I don't want to leave either." Merlin smiled. "This," he raised their joined hands up and smiled at him even more. He could feel tears in his eyes. "I can't lose this," he turned to Will then, feeling the tears roll down his cheek. "I can't lose him, Will. You need to understand."

"But Merlin, he's... he's  _mortal._  It's-"

"I know it's against the rules," Merlin rolled his eyes. "But aren't we supposed to love humans? They're our father's creation and I'm sorry, but I can't help but love him. I'm not going back to Heaven with you."

"Merlin, you don't understand." Will took a step closer. "I want you to be happy. But if you stay here... you'll  _die._ "

"What?" Both Merlin and Arthur asked in unison, both in shock.

Will sighed and for the first time, he looked sympathetic. "The Earth... it's not for angels," he explained. "Only archangels can visit for a longer amount of time if it's required of them, but you and me? We're just average," he looked sad as he talked. And Merlin couldn't help but let his tears flow because leaving Arthur would kill him too. "If we stay too long," Will continued, "we start feeling and doing human things. Sleeping, eating... you must have experienced that by now."

"I've been here only for a day," Merlin whispered.

"You did sleep though, did you?" Will asked carefully.

"Right after I entered the castle." Merlin nodded, closing his eyes and bowing his head. He could feel Arthur's hand on his shoulder, but that just made it more painful.

"See?" Will pursed his lips. He was talking quietly now, trying to get Merlin to understand why he had to leave. "Sooner or later, you'd lose the ability to fly. You'd lose your powers and then your wings, and you'd simply disappear. And that would hurt. You wouldn't end up in Heaven, you'd be...  _gone._  Forever."

Merlin took a deep breath and brought his hand up to put it over Arthur's on his shoulder. He squeezed and thought hard about his choices and his final decision.

He couldn't leave Arthur and return to how things were. He couldn't go the rest of his existence without hearing Arthur's voice and his laugh from close, without Arthur looking into his eyes. It would kill him. Not literally, but he'd be dead inside. Staying on Earth though, would kill him literally. And he couldn't let Arthur see that.

When he looked up at his prince, there were tears in his eyes. It was the first time he's properly showed any real emotion besides the kiss earlier. Merlin figured Arthur didn't like to talk about his feelings or feel weak, but Merlin couldn't help but put his palm on his cheek and wipe the tears away.

"You need to leave with him," Arthur whispered. "You'll die if you don't."

"But how can I live without you?" Merlin whispered back. He didn't care that Will was still there with them. He leaned in and let his lips brush against Arthur's, closing his eyes and wishing he could stay with him forever. They'd be happy here. He knew that.

When he pulled away, he turned to William. "Is there no other way?" He asked. The desperation in his voice was palpable.

"I'm afraid there isn't." Will shook his head. "I'm sorry, Merlin. I really am."

Merlin nodded and turned back to Arthur. They were standing so close to each other. Merlin's hand was on Arthur's shoulder and the other around his waist. He leaned closer again and put his arm around Arthur's neck, embracing him. His head was resting in the crook of Arthur's neck and Arthur's head lay on Merlin's. He'd never felt so close to someone. So warm inside, so  _complete._

And never before has he wished so much to have been born a human. He'd be able to spend a lifetime with Arthur then and they'd never have to say goodbye.

Then it occurred to him.

He opened his eyes and pulled away suddenly, looking at Will with wide eyes full of new hope.

"What if I became human?" He asked loud and clear. What if he became human? Was that possible? To just  _stop_ being an angel and continue his life as a mortal?

"What?" Will frowned at him. It obviously hadn't occurred to him until now.

"Can I become human? Be mortal? I don't care about my wings and powers, as long as it's possible and I can be with Arthur." Merlin explained.

Will kept silent, thinking about it. And it only fed Merlin's hope.

"Come on, you're older than me and more experienced, you must know if this is possible," Merlin asked his friend. When Will looked up at him, he didn't look that sad anymore.

"I've never heard of it..." He trailed off.

"... but?" Merlin nodded enthusiastically. "It is possible, right?"

"Merlin." He heard Arthur from behind him. "I can't let you do this, you'd lose your home."

Merlin smiled when he turned to him. "My home is wherever you are, Arthur," he told him. He was willing to do whatever it took to be with Arthur and he knew that even though Arthur might have been against it in the beginning, he wouldn't be at the end.

"I think it's possible," Will answered at last, making Merlin turn around to face him again. "But I've never done it before and it might be dangerous. I've never even heard of anyone doing it, this is... it's madness."

"But this  _madness_  is worth it," Merlin smiled at him. "I trust you," he added. "I know you'll try your best."

Will nodded.

"So what do I have to do?" Merlin asked.

"Nothing," Will said. Then he looked at Arthur. "But you'll have to stay away, I don't know if this will work, but it'll be dangerous for you."

"Alright," Arthur agreed. Then he turned to Merlin and threw his arms around him, trying to be subtle about saying goodbye, which meant he didn't say it but meant it that way.

"It'll work out," Merlin smiled at him. "You'll see."

"I know," Arthur nodded. He didn't look very convinced, but he trusted Merlin. Merlin could read that in his mind and it made him even more in love than he was before.

When Arthur left the tower and closed the door, Merlin turned to Will.

"You won't be able to see me once we're done with this," Will told him. That was enough to make Merlin come closer to him and pull him into a tight hug as well.

"I'll miss you," Merlin smiled as he closed his eyes.

"And I'll miss you." Will nodded against his shoulder. When they pulled away, he added, "but I don't want you to suffer for the rest of your life. And I can see that he makes you happy."

"Thank you," Merlin beamed at him. Then he stepped away and prepared for whatever was about to come.

"Just promise me you won't waste your mortal life," Will added.

"I promise I won't," Merlin smiled. He knew exactly what he wanted to do – spend the rest of his life with Arthur. And that wasn't wasting his life, that was living his life to the fullest.

Before he knew it, he heard Will start talking. He was saying words that Merlin never learned and didn't know how to use, mixed with words he tried to use himself – words that got him on Earth. He felt some kind of power surround him and he had to close his eyes. The white light was blinding.

After a few seconds, he couldn't hear Will talking anymore. But he knew he continued using his power, he could feel it getting stronger. Then his wings started to hurt. At first it was bearable, but then it wasn't. His heartbeat was speeding up and he screamed as something was ripped away from him. It wasn't anything physical, he didn't think, but something was gone and he felt...  _different_.

The light stopped and Merlin collapsed on the grass. His heavy breaths turned into coughs and he carefully opened his eyes, looking around. It was quiet. He hoped no one had heard him scream, but judging by Arthur not running towards him, it must have been inaudible. Or maybe only angels could hear that.

With a heavy sigh, he sat up and groaned. His back hurt like hell. He reached behind his head and touched his skin beneath the robe that he was still wearing, and his eyes widened.

His wings were gone.

So it must have worked, right? His wings were gone and when he tried to concentrate on his power, he couldn't feel it anymore. He looked up and around, but he was alone, only with the stars above his head.

"Thank you!" He smiled up into the sky. He didn't know if Will was still there with him or if he'd already left, but he hoped Will heard him anyway.

As he stood up, for the first time, he realized how bloody  _cold_  he was. He wrapped his arms around himself and ran barefoot to the door, opening it. Arthur was pacing the hall.

"It worked!" He smiled at him.

When Arthur heard him, his frown disappeared instantly and turned into the widest grin Merlin's ever witnessed. And before he knew it, he had two strong arms around him again, squeezing him like his life depended on it.

"Ow," Merlin laughed and Arthur immediately let him go again, taking his face into his hands.

"Are you okay? How does it feel? You're not dying anymore, are you?" He bombarded him with questions until Merlin couldn't help but laugh too.

"I'm alright," he told him and placed his hands over Arthur's on his cheeks. "I'm human now. And I'm here to stay."

"Oh thank god," Arthur let out a breath of relief and pulled Merlin close again, this time gently.

When he pulled away and after another kiss, Merlin sighed and looked around, shrugging. "Well, now what?" He asked.

Arthur seemed to think about it. "Now we go to sleep and tomorrow you'll help me with training. From now on, you're my new manservant." He grinned.

"Wait, what?" Merlin asked, but Arthur only laughed and kissed him in response.

And Merlin couldn't say  _no_  to that. He'd love helping Arthur and learning more about humans and he'd get to spend every day with Arthur. And that meant a lot of  _alone_  time.

He kissed the prince –  _his_  prince – again and together, hand in hand, they walked through the castle, back to Arthur's chambers, where the bed was waiting for them.

And maybe even the bathtub – for later.

xoXÖXox

Epilogue – one year later

It's been a year. Everything in Heaven was fine, mortals had wars and marriages, arguments and children. Nothing changed. And no one knew that a former angel walked among them. No one noticed that Merlin left Heaven a year ago. No one knew that he lived his life together with the crowned prince of Camelot.

No one except Will. He's kept his promise and the secret. No one asked about Merlin, Will was his only friend. He missed him terribly, but he was glad that Merlin was happy.

It was a normal day in Heaven. Nothing unusual. The Garden smelled wonderful and the trees bore fruit and flowers were in bloom and Will was observing all of that right from the centre of the Garden.

It's been a while since he used the pond. He didn't have a human to protect ever since his human died (which was almost a hundred years ago). Will still felt like he had failed, but such things happened. Humans died and angels didn't.

But today was still different in some way. Will decided to use the pond, which was why he waited until there was no other angel around. Then he gently let his fingers touch the water and smiled. The water was pleasantly cool.

An image appeared instantly.

It was Merlin and Arthur, riding side by side through the forest. They tied their horses to trees and ran together to the nearest meadow, chasing each other through the grass with wide smiles on their faces.

It made Will smile too.

The night didn't seem cold according to what Merlin and Arthur were wearing as they fell to the grass, holding each other's hands and looking up at the stars.

" _Remember when you used to be an angel?"_ Arthur asked him, a question seemingly coming out of nowhere.

" _Of course I do,_ " Merlin laughed. Then he smirked. " _Remember when you used to give stars names?"_

Now it was Arthur's turn to laugh as he propped himself on his elbow and turned to Merlin. " _Come on_ ," he rolled his eyes.

" _Just for the record, I still think it's cute,_ " Merlin added with a giggle as Arthur leaned down and kissed him, putting his other arm around Merlin's waist.

" _You're cute,_ " Arthur put an end to that playful argument as he pulled away and lay down on his back again. " _What I meant though... do you ever regret it? That you became human?"_

Merlin didn't answer and Will listened closely as the former angel turned to Arthur with a serious expression. " _Not for one second,_ " he told him. Then he climbed on top of Arthur, straddling him and laying his head on Arthur's chest, listening to his heartbeat as he closed his eyes. " _I love you,"_ he whispered, smiling when Arthur put his arms around him.

" _And I love you,_ " Arthur smiled.

When Merlin raised his head and started kissing Arthur passionately, Will chuckled and looked up at the Garden around him. Still peaceful and beautiful, but without his friend.

" _You forgot to feed the horses again."_ He heard Merlin's giggle from the pond, followed by silent laughter.

" _That was your job, you idiot,"_  Arthur told him, but the rest of his words seemed to be stolen by another kiss.

Will smiled and touched the water again. Their image disappeared and the place fell silent. It was peaceful in Heaven indeed. And beautiful. And even without his friend, Will was happy that Merlin found purpose in life.

And it was a wonderful life, without doubt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was the end! I hope you thoroughly enjoyed this fanfic and liked the story of Merlin as an angel. As I said at the beginning, this was written for a Merthur AU fest on Instagram and originally was also supposed to be a oneshot. I hope you're satisfied with the ending, I sure had fun writing it :D I hope you'll consider reading some of my other stories (I write both short and long), and definitely let me know what you thought about this fanfic! I'd have made it longer if I had more time, but as I'm graduating this spring, I'll be lucky to even write a oneshot.
> 
> Thanks so much for reading and all your lovely comments!
> 
> Mischel xoxo


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